go for
Britishverb
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to go somewhere in order to have or fetch
he went for a drink
shall I go for a doctor?
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to seek to obtain
I'd go for that job if I were you
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to apply to
what I told him goes for you too
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to prefer or choose; like
I really go for that new idea of yours
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to be to the advantage of
you'll have great things going for you in the New Year
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to make a physical or verbal attack on
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to be considered to be of a stated importance or value
his twenty years went for nothing when he was made redundant
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informal to make the maximum effort to achieve a particular goal
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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.
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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]
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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 .
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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]
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Have a special liking for, as in I really go for progressive jazz . [ Colloquial ; first half of 1900s]
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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 .
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.
The works give him a feeling of home, where he can no longer go for security reasons.
From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026
"In realistic terms, some markets just don't go for that," Sir Idris said.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
On the Sunday before Christmas this past December, I asked Nana where she wanted to go for lunch.
From Salon • Jun. 3, 2026
If we’re not interested in whatever’s playing at the time, we might go for a hike in Tapia Park.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
She’d probably got up early to go for a walk and calm down.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
