go off

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verb (intr)

(adverb) (of power, a water supply, etc) to cease to be available, running, or functioningthe lights suddenly went off

(adverb) to be discharged or activated; explode

(adverb) to occur as specifiedthe meeting went off well

to leave (a place)the actors went off stage

(adverb) (of a sensation) to gradually cease to be felt or perceived

(adverb) to fall asleep

(adverb) to enter a specified state or conditionshe went off into hysterics

(adverb foll by with) to abscond (with)

(adverb) (of concrete, mortar, etc) to harden

(adverb) British informal (of food, milk, etc) to become stale or rotten

(preposition) British informal to cease to likeshe went off him after their marriage

(adverb) informal to become bad-tempered

(adverb) slang to have an orgasm

(adverb) Australian slang (of premises) to be raided by the police

(adverb) Australian slang (of a racehorse) to win a fixed race

(adverb) Australian slang to be stolen

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Words nearby go off

goody-goody, goody two shoes, gooey, goof, goofball, go off, go off half-cocked, go off the deep end, goof-off, goof on, goof-up

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use go off in a sentence

Everywhere I go, ‘Hey Cartman, you must like Family Guy, right?’
Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie|Arthur Chu|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Although the blood-spattered offices will be off-limits, staff have vowed to continue producing the magazine.
France Mourns—and Hunts|Nico Hines, Christopher Dickey|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Luckily enough I have this dedicated flat that is just along from my house that I go to every day.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The other songs go in to lesser percentages of “me” as you move along.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

At the moment, the only chance I get is when I go do Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
When the women came, he was preparing to go to the west side for his daily visit with Mrs. Pruitt.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
Were you ever arrested, having in your custody another man's cash, and would rather go to gaol, than break it?
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)|Daniel Defoe
He desired his secretary to go to the devil, but, thinking better of it, he recalled him as he reached the door.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
All Weimar adores him, and people say that women still go perfectly crazy over him.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
To see a part of my scheme, from which I had hoped so much, go wrong before my eyes is maddening!
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton

Other Idioms and Phrases with go off

go off

Explode, detonate; also, make noise, sound, especially abruptly. For example, I heard the gun go off, or The sirens went off at noon. This expression developed in the late 1500s and gave rise about 1700 to the related go off half-cocked, now meaning “to act prematurely” but originally referring to the slipping of a gun's hammer so that the gun fires (goes off) unexpectedly.

Leave, depart, especially suddenly, as in Don't go off mad, or They went off without saying goodbye. [c. 1600]

Keep to the expected plan or course of events, succeed, as in The project went off smoothly. [Second half of 1700s]

Deteriorate in quality, as in This milk seems to have gone off. [Late 1600s]

Die. Shakespeare used this sense in Macbeth (5:9): “I would the friends we missed were safely arrived.—Some must go off.”

Experience orgasm. D.H. Lawrence used this slangy sense in Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928): “You couldn't go off at the same time....” This usage is probably rare today. Also see get off, def. 8.

go off on a tangent. See under on a tangent.

go off one's head. See off one's head. Also see subsequent idioms beginning with go off.

go off

Words nearby go off

Words related to go off

How to use go off in a sentence

Other Idioms and Phrases with go off