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 signing was scrapped after the leaders' Oval Office talks went off the rails and White House officials asked Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation to leave. —Compiled Bydemocrat-Gazette Stafffrom Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 4 Mar. 2025

The show has been compared to Lost and Scandal, but specifically the later years when those series went off the rails. —Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 4 Mar. 2025

But the puck went off Jake Sanderson’s skate and past Senators goalie Linus Ullmark, tying the game 1-1 at the 5:17 mark. —Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 3 Mar. 2025

The film easily could've gone off the rails in less capable hands, but Yeoh grounds it in an emotional truth as Evelyn journeys from embittered to empowered. —Ew Staff, EW.com, 2 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