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go off
verb
(adverb) (of power, a water supply, etc) to cease to be available, running, or functioning
the lights suddenly went off
(adverb) to be discharged or activated; explode
(adverb) to occur as specified
the 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 condition
she went off into hysterics
to abscond (with)
(adverb) (of concrete, mortar, etc) to harden
informal, (adverb) (of food, milk, etc) to become stale or rotten
informal, (preposition) to cease to like
she went off him after their marriage
informal, (adverb) to become bad-tempered
slang, (adverb) to have an orgasm
slang, (adverb) (of premises) to be raided by the police
slang, (adverb) (of a racehorse) to win a fixed race
slang, (adverb) to be stolen
Idioms and Phrases
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 .
Example Sentences
"At midnight all the players were woken up by all these fireworks going off right above us."
Oliver Sipple, a disabled former Marine standing next to her, saw the weapon and deflected her arm just as the gun went off.
But the bigger moments are where this psychologically and morally fascinating play goes off the rails.
“He goes off, gets called up, misses almost a month,” Conger said, “and still becomes the rookie of the year.”
"We have a lot of staff that have had to go off with long-term sickness because of violence and aggression," she said.
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