go over
Britishverb
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to be received in a specified manner
the concert went over very well
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Also: go through. (preposition) to examine and revise as necessary
he went over the accounts
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Also: go through. (preposition) to clean
she went over the room before her mother came
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(preposition) to check and repair
can you go over my car please?
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Also: go through. (preposition) to rehearse
I'll go over my lines before the play
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to change (to a different practice or system)
will Britain ever go over to driving on the right?
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to change one's allegiances
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slang (preposition) to do physical violence to
they went over him with an iron bar
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Examine, review. For example, They went over the contract with great care , or I think we should go over the whole business again . This term originated in the late 1500s, then meaning “consider in sequence.”
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Gain acceptance or approval, succeed, as in I hope the play goes over . This term is sometimes elaborated to go over big or go over with a bang for a big success, and go over like a lead balloon for a dismal failure. [Early 1900s]
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Rehearse, as in Let's go over these lines one more time . [Second half of 1700s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For many years it has been clear to demographers that its population was about to go over a cliff — yet its stock market has performed admirably.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
“I’d come home, catch a few hours of sleep and go over to SoFi because it’s so close and watch Justin play. I wouldn’t be able to do that anywhere else. It’s pretty special.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
"This was a good opportunity to go back and go over all of our assumptions - it turns out, yes, we do understand this stuff and we're accounting for it in our cosmology measurement."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
"Once it's manageable, you just need to go over them and try and make the car as fast as possible."
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
They squeal with excitement and go over to the large blue bin full of small musical instruments, ranging from a xylophone to a tambourine.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
