go over
Britishverb
-
to be received in a specified manner
the concert went over very well
-
Also: go through. (preposition) to examine and revise as necessary
he went over the accounts
-
Also: go through. (preposition) to clean
she went over the room before her mother came
-
(preposition) to check and repair
can you go over my car please?
-
Also: go through. (preposition) to rehearse
I'll go over my lines before the play
-
-
to change (to a different practice or system)
will Britain ever go over to driving on the right?
-
to change one's allegiances
-
-
slang (preposition) to do physical violence to
they went over him with an iron bar
-
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.”
-
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]
-
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.
Every few years, the EIA would go over scenarios of oil jolts with varying degrees of severity in order to train the delegates on how to deal with their country’s strategic reserves, he said.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
"I like to go over memories, because it brings me back to the time," he says.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
“It sounds like a pretty safe situation to go over there in the first place,” Ring said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2026
I go over the countertops once, then let them air dry for a minute.
From Salon • May 5, 2026
“You knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly.”
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
