go off

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go off (third-person singular simple present goes off, present participle going off, simple past went off, past participle gone off)

1. (intransitive) To explode.

   The bomb went off right after the president left his office.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 213:

     You see the thing had gone off like a box of matches.

2. (intransitive) To fire, especially accidentally.

   The gun went off during their struggle.

3. (intransitive, figurative) To explode metaphorically; to become very angry or overexcited.
   • 1986 February 1, Kathy Jo Elliott, “Solid As A Rock”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 28, page 5:

     I watched a high official on "inspection" tease and purposeflly cause a 63 year old man to go off and then made fun of the elderly man.

   It all went off when the opposing teams' fans met at the railway station.

   When the boss came to know about the scheme, he went off, shouting and throwing everything away.

4. (intransitive) To begin clanging or making noise.

   The alarm will go off at six a.m.

   Just after he spotted the first plane on the horizon, sirens started to go off around the city.

5. (intransitive) To stop operating; to switch off.

   We were watching TV when suddenly the power went off.

7. (intransitive) To depart; to leave.

   Having sated her appetite, she went off in search of a place to sleep.

   I don't know where he's going—he went off without a word.

   • 1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 25:

     I was intimidated by the other men on her design course, and became convinced that she was going to go off with one of them. She went off with one of them.

8. (intransitive, UK, Australia) To putrefy or become inedible, or to become unusable in any way.

   Synonyms: go sour, spoil

   Bugger—the milk's gone off already!

   • 1987 September 3, Unpalatable Treatment, New Scientist, page 20,

     But to cast out a technique that could not only reduce the incidence of food poisoning but could also allow us to move away from another bete noire of the “technophobes” — chemical treatment to prevent stored grain from going off— is daft

   • 2005, Neil Perry, The Food I Love‎^[1], page 13:

     Don′t expect to store fragile food like fish, poultry and meat in the refrigerator at home for a long period of time, as it will go off quickly.

   • 2005, Nancy Abeiderrahmane, “Modern Dairy Products from Traditional Camel Herding: An Experience in Mauritania”, in Bernard Faye, Palmated Esenov, editors, Desertification Combat And Food Safety: The Added Value Of Camel Producers, page 156:

     Although there is a popular myth about camel milk ‘never going off’, experience shows that pasteurised packaged camel milk does not keep any better than its cow equivalent, and seems to lose its flavour faster.

9. (transitive) To like gradually less.

   Ever since falling off her bike, she's gone off cycling to work.

   We needed a vet visit because some of the cattle had gone off their feed.

10. (intransitive, chiefly UK, of epoxy resins) To cure; to set.

    I've got to get the panels aligned quickly now because the epoxy resin will go off within 20 minutes or so.

11. (intransitive) To pass off; to take place; to be accomplished; to happen.

    The party went off very well.

    • 1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC:

      The wedding went off much as such affairs do.

12. (slang) To ejaculate; to orgasm.

    Synonyms: ejaculate, cum

13. (intransitive, LGBTQ slang) To perform extremely well; to be impressive or attractive; often used to express encouragement.

    Synonyms: kill it, pop off, serve, slay

    Go off, queen!

    • 2024 May 12, Tish Weinstock, “This Vintage Lover Is Calling Time On The ’90s Fashion Obsession”, in British Vogue‎^[2]:

      After all, these items of clothing were designed to be worn. And if you can get one last hurrah out of a thrifted peach negligée, go off queen.

    • 2024 September 14, Heath Owens, “What to Wear to Charli xcx & Troye Sivan's Tour If You Wanna 'SWEAT'”, in Cosmopolitan‎^[3]:

      Of course, she [Charlie XCX] has a penchant for designer frames that cost upwards of $400. If you want to splurge on one of those exact pairs, go off. If you want to save some coin, I found similar options at more affordable brands and even some Amazon dupes. You’re welcome.

14. (transitive) To follow or extrapolate from something; to judge by.

    Going off the interview alone, she seemed like the perfect employee.

    • 8 October, 2020, Paul Oswell, Business Insider:

      To see a room rate well under $200 is a rarity…. The occupancy rate during my stay seemed quite low, going off what I was able to see, with not many guests checking in or out and no crowds in the public spaces, and so social distancing wasn't an issue.

15. (intransitive, slang) To fall unconscious; to go to sleep; to die.

    One day I'll go off, but until then, I'm in charge around here.

16. (intransitive, slang, UK, archaic, of a woman) To get married.

    We can only hope she'll go off soon.

17. (intransitive, slang, archaic) To be spent, dispursed or used on.

    All his money goes off as soon as he earns it.

18. (intransitive, slang) To rant; to talk at length negatively; to insult or criticize.

    They went off about all the problems around here.

19. (intransitive, slang) To fight or attack.

• go off at score
• go off half-cocked
• go off on one
• go off the boil
• go off the rails
• go off the reservation