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

to go off

97 3.4
Happen in a smooth, successful way, especially at events
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡoʊ ɔf/
  • Informal
translation icon : salir
  • Now, they all turn, and we CUT TO: another flare going off in another part of camp.
  • went off without a hitch
  • go off the rails

I can feel this giggle going off, you know, across the crowd.

Examples

  • The loading in France went off without a hitch, and we're now underway again.

    S.O.S. Titanic (1980)

  • Despite the rain, the charity event went off without any major problems.

  • And the crowd just went off at the end of the dance.

  • So anyway, the first party went off with it was a major success.

  • Twelve people go off into a room.

    Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

  • The family cocktail hour and dinner went off with no untoward incidents that evening.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • It went off just as people were getting up for intermission.

    The Siege (1998)

  • The concert finally went off as planned, and everyone enjoyed the performance.

  • After months of preparation, her graduation ceremony went off really well.

Synonyms

to go over
vsto go off
120 3.3

To make people like or dislike an idea

describes how an event happens rather than how others perceive it
to come off
vsto go off
63 4.1

Happen as planned and go well

is neutral about whether it matches plans or expectations

How Well

to do well
520 1.2
to go off
  • Informal
97 3.4
to go wrong
495 2.4
to flop
19 4.0

Surface Forms

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

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 may come from the idea of a starting signal, like a starter's gun or bell. When the signal 'went off', the event began, so go off came to mean 'to happen' or 'take place'.