go off

verb

went off; gone off; going off; goes off

intransitive verb

1

: explode

2

: to burst forth or break out suddenly or noisily

3

: to go forth, out, or away : leave

4

: to undergo decline or deterioration

5

: to follow the expected or desired course : proceed

the party went off well

6

: to make a characteristic noise : sound

could hear the alarm going off

Phrases

go off the deep end

1

: to enter recklessly on a course

2

: to become very much excited

Synonyms

• blow
• blow up
• burst
• crump
• detonate
• explode
• pop

Examples of go off in a Sentence

specialists were able to deactivate the bomb before it went off

the wedding went off without so much as a single glitch

Recent Examples on the Web

Shortly after disappearing together, Elizabeth and Cummins went off the grid. —Alex Gurley, People.com, 15 Mar. 2025

Empower your team to embrace change and shift gears quickly when plans go off track. —Natasha Cox, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025

Against all his better judgment (and narrative logic), a bloodied Nate goes off to hunt them down and save Sherry. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2025

The pet ended up hitting the trigger, the gun went off and the man was grazed in his upper left thigh, police said. —Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for go off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Kids Definition

go off

verb

1

: explode sense 2b

2

: to burst forth or break out suddenly or noisily

3

: to take place : proceed

the dance went off as planned