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

Think more even heat, better tasting meals, and less chance of smoke detectors going off mid-dinner, among other benefits. —Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 26 July 2025

Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images When it was reported last month that Anthropic’s Claude had resorted to blackmail and other self-preservation techniques to avoid being shut down, alarm bells went off in the AI community. —Kevin Williams, CNBC, 24 July 2025

When Moody sustained a high ankle sprain making a tackle on a kickoff return — yes, the 49ers coverage unit had failed to do its job — in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals, his season went off the rails. —Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 24 July 2025

The test run in Austin has mostly gone off without a hitch, though there have been a few alarming incidents, such as when a robotaxi went down a lane meant for opposing traffic. —Bernard Condon, Chicago Tribune, 24 July 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