head off

verb

headed off; heading off; heads off

transitive verb

: to turn back or turn aside : block, prevent

head them off at the pass

attempts to head off the imminent crisis

intransitive verb

: to go to another place

See you later—I'm heading off to work.

Synonyms of head off

• prevent
• avert

Examples of head off in a Sentence

if we act quickly, we may still be able to head off disaster

Recent Examples on the Web

Johnson will block a push by moderate House Republicans for a vote on renewing expiring Obamacare subsidies, quashing a last-ditch effort to head off a spike in insurance premiums. —Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 6 Mar. 2026

Quarterback Wyatt Brown, instead of heading off to West Virginia, has been training in the 400 to gain speed for his college season this fall. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2026

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that on February 25, someone cut the blooming heads off all the flowers in Calla Lily Valley. —Owen Clarke, Outside, 4 Mar. 2026

The five-year exhibit runs in San Francisco’s Presidio through August before heading off to 10 other cities, including Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon. —ABC News, 3 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for head off

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