lift off

Idioms  

1. Begin flight, as in The spacecraft was due to lift off at ten o'clock. The off in this idiom means “off the ground.” [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

SpaceX has been advancing the vehicle through test missions that lift off from its complex outside Brownsville, Texas.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Looney Tunes-themed Tweety’s Escape ride, meanwhile, lets guests climb into individual birdcages that lift off the ground and sway in a circle.

From Los Angeles Times

Satellite images show a common design, with runways exceeding 14,000 feet long to give pilots more room to lift off in high-altitude conditions where the air is thinner.

From The Wall Street Journal

The failures allowed hot gases to escape 73 seconds after the Challenger lifted off, igniting its fuel tank.

From The Wall Street Journal

This took enormous effort, for although chickens are not, technically speaking, flightless birds, like ostriches or dodos, nor are they known for their ability to easily “lift off,” as we say nowadays.

From Literature