pop off

British  

verb

1. to depart suddenly or unexpectedly

2. to die, esp suddenly or unexpectedly

   he popped off at the age of sixty

3. to speak out angrily or indiscreetly

   he popped off at his boss and got fired

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pop off Idioms  

1. Leave abruptly or hurriedly, as in I'm just going to pop off and mail some letters .

2. Die suddenly, as in No one expected her to pop off like that . [ Colloquial ; second half of 1700s]

3. Speak thoughtlessly in an angry outburst, as in Don't pop off at me—complain to whoever's responsible . [ Slang ; c. 1930]

4. pop someone off . Kill someone, as in The sniper popped off at least three men . [ Slang ; early 1800s] All four usages transfer pop in the sense of “explode” to other kinds of sudden or violent behavior.

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Example Sentences

“There’s a lot of guys that you may look at their height, weight, speed and it may not pop off the paper, but football isn’t played on paper.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

“Earthquakes pop off around the state, and it’s a little bit like popcorn that they hit — sometimes they bunch up for reasons that we don’t understand,” said Susan Hough, seismologist for the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 10, 2024

Other topical comedy shows can only pop off a joke or two about a percentage of what has happened in the day.

From Salon • Sep. 14, 2024

“Hiii, oh my god, the fit is fitting, pop off king!” she says at the start of a recent video that has over 200,000 likes.

From New York Times • Jun. 13, 2024

But it pressed down uncomfortably on my tongue, and sometimes it would pop off during the night and I’d wake up choking on it.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

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