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

Oh, and the fart app can now go off as soon as someone sits down on a seat. —Umar Shakir, The Verge, 2 Dec. 2024

This set of blackout curtains is the key to snoozing right until your alarm goes off (and then some). —Will Porter, Architectural Digest, 2 Dec. 2024

For the most part, the event went off without a hitch, but near the end of the competition, two players who had advanced to the final round – nicknamed Hilliasteur and Shirxyu – were disqualified, with the third-place players instead advancing to the grand final. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 29 Nov. 2024

San Diego has been linked to two homemade pipe bombs that went off on Aug. 28, 2003, at Chiron Corp., a biotech company in Emeryville, just across the bay from San Francisco. —Michael Kosnar, NBC News, 26 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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