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

The runners line up in the blocks, and the packed stadium goes silent in the seconds before the gun goes off. —Sean Gregory, TIME, 20 June 2024

Per the report, this is where things started really going off the rails, as former Gov. Andrew Cuomo decided to centralize decision-making, relying on executive orders to run the pandemic response out of his office. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 18 June 2024

Every time someone went off to play the next game, Weekes and his team were reconfiguring the layout of the beds. —Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 18 June 2024

Gentleman needs Sue to serve as Maud’s maid to complete the scheme, and so Sue goes off to the remote rural estate where Maud lives. —Vanessa Armstrong, The Atlantic, 17 June 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