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

John and Michelle Montali graduated from Uni in 1988, then headed off to college at UCLA. —Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Nov. 2025

Every year, the three of us head off to the department store to pick out a special outfit for our annual Christmas party. —Alyssa Grabinski, PEOPLE, 24 Nov. 2025

Fighters from 18 countries are here trying to knock each other's heads off. —Heather Abbott, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025

The young Nico played for two junior teams, Moston Tigers and Failsworth Dynamos, and because their games were often at different times, his regular Saturday routine was to play in one, get changed as quickly as possible, then head off for wherever his other team had a match. —Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025

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