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

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

Snelling has said investigators were pulling video surveillance footage from the area, asking the public for tips on who is to blame, and working to head off any retaliation. —Sam Charles, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2025

Sure, Amelia gets to do some cool stuff like scamper on all fours toward a target, scramble down a wall like a spider, rip the head off one poor unfortunate and neutralize entire tactical units with her dazzling fight skills. —David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 25 June 2025

Ana Marie was shot point blank in the head off to the side of I-95 in Palm Beach County. —Charles Rabin, Miami Herald, 24 June 2025

Bradford pitched for Aledo High School and posted an 0.64 ERA during his senior season in 2016 before heading off to Waco to pitch for Baylor University. —Alyssa Cooper, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for head off

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