pop off
Britishverb
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to depart suddenly or unexpectedly
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to die, esp suddenly or unexpectedly
he popped off at the age of sixty
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to speak out angrily or indiscreetly
he popped off at his boss and got fired
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Leave abruptly or hurriedly, as in I'm just going to pop off and mail some letters .
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Die suddenly, as in No one expected her to pop off like that . [ Colloquial ; second half of 1700s]
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Speak thoughtlessly in an angry outburst, as in Don't pop off at me—complain to whoever's responsible . [ Slang ; c. 1930]
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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.
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.
“She really popped off the page,” Pedretti, 31, says on a recent Zoom interview she takes while on a sandwich run in L.A.
From Los Angeles Times
Zippers can break, buttons can pop off, but stylists have to stay strong for their clients.
From Los Angeles Times
The button pops off and flies across the room.
From Literature
“People really want to get off their phones and back into independent venues, and this little pocket of downtown is about to pop off,” Levine said.
From Los Angeles Times
To my utter surprise, it popped off easily, and I stumbled backward.
From Literature
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.
