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

This time, things are already going off the rails before a book comes into play. — Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 7 July 2026

By all accounts, the event went off without a hitch—but not without behind-the-scenes anxiety. — Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 7 July 2026

Kids in pre-K-3 are still napping for the most part, and how does that work with alarm bells going off for the high school students to transfer classrooms? — Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 July 2026

Though alarms went off, for reasons that are still unclear, a security monitoring company did not immediately alert police. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 6 July 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