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

Though Gibson went off to college in North Carolina Gibson made sure to keep the family unified. —Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 16 Dec. 2025

The approximately mile and a half drive to the convention center went off with no apparent issues — no excessive speeding, the turn signals were used and there were no unexpected incidents. —Eric D. Lawrence, USA Today, 15 Dec. 2025

So don't go off topic, don't impersonate anyone, and don't get your facts wrong. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 15 Dec. 2025

That team goes off the head coach. —Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 13 Dec. 2025

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