go off

verb

went off; gone off; going off; goes off

intransitive verb

1

a

: explode

b

of a gun : shoot sense 1

2

: to burst forth or break out suddenly or noisily

3

: to go forth, out, or away : leave

went off to join the army

4

: to undergo decline or deterioration

5

: to follow the expected or desired course : proceed

The party went off well.

6

: to make a characteristic noise : sound

could hear the alarm going off

7

: to stop working

All the lights suddenly went off.

see also:

go off the deep end go off with

Synonyms of go off

• explode
• detonate
• pop
• blow
• burst

Examples of go off in a Sentence

specialists were able to deactivate the bomb before it went off

the wedding went off without so much as a single glitch

Recent Examples on the Web

Stewart attempted a pickoff throw that went off the glove of first baseman Freddie Freeman and into foul territory for an error, advancing Hamilton to second. — CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026

Alarms went off after a major global analysis published in 2022 estimated that average sperm concentration fell by about half between 1973 and 2018 among men not selected on the basis of fertility. — Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026

The Galaxy’s Kyogo Furuhashi went off because of an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced in the 10th minute by João Klauss, whose goal in the 71st minute capped the scoring. — Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026

This was the same woman who reportedly started recording an athlete who protested the Camas runner last month by walking off the start line when the gun went off. — Matt Calkins Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1560, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for go off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Kids Definition

go off

verb

1

: explode sense 2b

2

: to burst forth or break out suddenly or noisily

3

: to take place : proceed

the dance went off as planned