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

Colbert’s show, of course, has been canceled by CBS and will go off the air in May 2026. —Greg Evans, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2025

The 32-year-old artist went off on Ice Spice and name-dropped several other artists after a diss track leaked online from her fellow Bronx rapper. —Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 30 Sep. 2025

That’s not counting a second-quarter interception that went off his hands at the Jacksonville 21-yard line and was gathered in by linebacker Devin Lloyd. —Matt Barrows, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025

Exactly what Murray or his assistants would have produced (although our bundles would then go off to be keyed into a database, rather than being typeset by compositors). —Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 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