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Glite Dictionary
🚨 To start suddenly 🎤 To happen 💡 To stop working
to go off

to go off

42 2.5
Stop working or lose power, for example lights
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡoʊ ɔf/
  • UK
translation icon : dejar de funcionar
  • The little red light has to go off.
  • the lights go off
  • the power goes off
  • the electricity goes off

As soon as the power goes off, then the value is stored.

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Examples

  • The police had just been at my house when the alarm went off.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The fire alarm went off again that night, late, just a single rolling whoop, an afterthought.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • When the power went off all the doors opened.

    Attack of the Sabretooth (2005)

  • - The light went off.

    Paper Champions (2020)

  • As soon as the power goes off, then the value is stored.

    Computerphile

  • They said the electricity was going off...

    Hollywood Ending (2002)

  • The power went off in a five-block radius around the New Hope Baptist Church.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • When the timer went off, Spice removed the roast from the oven.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • When the timer goes off, the cooking will be finished.

  • As the storm approached, the power suddenly went off in our neighborhood.

Synonyms

to turn off
vsto go off
631 1.3

To stop a machine or device from working with a switch

may stop by itself without any human action or intervention
to shut down
vsto go off
541 2.9

Stop a machine, business, or system from working

can stop without planning or control and is not always deliberate
to go out
vsto go off
255 1.0

Stop burning or shining, like a candle

applies to many devices and not only lights or flames
to go down
vsto go off
187 3.4

To stop working for a short time

can stop operating without implying it is only a short outage
to shut off
vsto go off
83 2.6

Stop something from working by using a switch or valve

may cease functioning without a control action or manual intervention
to cut out
vsto go off
45 4.1

To stop working suddenly

can stop operating either suddenly or more slowly
to switch off
vsto go off
37 1.1

To stop a machine or light by using a control such as a button

can stop on its own without someone using any control
to go bad
vsto go off
  • US
33 3.5

Stop working and need repair

may simply stop working without implying internal breakdown
to go dead
vsto go off
27 3.9

To stop working or become suddenly silent

may stop operating without implying sudden loss of function

Antonyms

to activate
715 3.6

To make a machine, system, or account start working

to go on
57 1.1

Start working, like lights or an alarm

How Operational

to run
∞ 2.2
to function
441 2.6
idle
57 2.8
to go off
  • UK
42 2.5
to break down
194 3.2

Surface Forms

go off infinitive
going off present participle
goes off third person singular
went off past
gone off past participle

Morphology

go + off

The meaning 'to stop running/operate' is directly derivable from combining 'go' (indicating a change of state) with 'off' (indicating not operating or inactive); this yields a predictable change-of-state meaning for devices or lights. While 'go off' has other senses in different contexts (e.g., explode, ring), in the context of machines or lights the composition is transparent and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Go off for lights or machines comes from the idea of a switch moving to the 'off' position. When you turn a switch off, the light or machine 'goes off' and stops working, so go off means 'to stop' or 'to stop working'.