go for

British  

verb

1. to go somewhere in order to have or fetch

   he went for a drink

   shall I go for a doctor?

2. to seek to obtain

   I'd go for that job if I were you

3. to apply to

   what I told him goes for you too

4. to prefer or choose; like

   I really go for that new idea of yours

5. to be to the advantage of

   you'll have great things going for you in the New Year

6. to make a physical or verbal attack on

7. to be considered to be of a stated importance or value

   his twenty years went for nothing when he was made redundant

8. informal to make the maximum effort to achieve a particular goal

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go for Idioms  

1. Go in order to get, as in I'll go for the paper , or He went for the doctor . This usage, dating from the late 1500s, gave rise to the 20th-century noun gofer , a person who is habitually sent on routine errands.

2. Be equivalent to or valued as; also, pass for, serve as. For example, All our efforts are going for very little , or That silver went for a lot of money , or That sofa can go for a bed . [Mid-1500s]

3. Aim or try for, especially making a vigorous effort. For example, They're going for the league championship . This idiom is also put as go for it , as in When Steve said he'd like to change careers, his wife told him to go for it . The related phrase go for broke means “to commit all one's available resources toward achieving a goal,” as in Our competitors are going for broke to get some of our accounts . The first expression dates from the mid-1500s; the two colloquial variants from the first half of the 1900s. Also see all out ; go out for .

4. Attack, as in We have to tie up our dog, because he loves to go for letter carriers . A hyperbolic variant, go for the jugular , is used for an all-out attack on the most vital part, as in In political arguments he always goes for the jugular . The jugular is a blood vessel whose rupture is life-threatening. [ Colloquial ; late 1800s]

5. Have a special liking for, as in I really go for progressive jazz . [ Colloquial ; first half of 1900s]

6. Be valid for or applicable to, as in Kevin hates broccoli, and that goes for Dean, too . [Early 1900s] Also see have going for one .

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

go for

I always say when you decide to go for it — go for it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

If you truly believe that benefits will be reduced due to a shortfall of funds, and you have the choice to start claiming now instead of in six or eight years’ time, go for it.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

You could take the trail all the way to trendy Pampelonne, where sun beds at its beach clubs go for upwards of $140 for the day.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

And yes, the Labour Party has decided – before the half time point of this parliament – to go for a change of tactics and a key substitution.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

“Some other people I know also applied, so I decided to go for it. Keep my options open. Won’t hurt anyone to try, right?”

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Related Words

• accept
• favor
• prefer