go off

verb

went off; gone off; going off; goes off

intransitive verb

1

: explode

2

: to burst forth or break out suddenly or noisily

3

: to go forth, out, or away : leave

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

Phrases

go off the deep end

1

: to enter recklessly on a course

2

: to become very much excited

Synonyms

• 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

There, deputies found an unoccupied vehicle that had gone off the road and hit a tree. —Abigail Adams, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2025

Museum alarms went off, and visitors were evacuated. —Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 20 Oct. 2025

The alarms went off, but the foursome managed to flee, making their getaway on two scooters. —Sophie Friedman, AFAR Media, 20 Oct. 2025

This time the ball goes off Wan'Dale Robinson and into the arms of Theo Johnson who runs all the way to the end zone. —Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 19 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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