go off

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To go off is to explode or to sound — or, of food, to spoil. Three senses with nothing in common.

The explosion sense covers bombs, guns, alarms and fireworks, so a car alarm that goes off at three in the morning is the commonest experience of it. The food sense is British and very common, since milk goes off. There are more: going off somebody means losing your liking for them, and going off on somebody is an American phrase for losing your temper.

Definitions of go off

1phrasego offTo explode, or to sound suddenly.B2
“The alarm will go off if you open that door.”
2phrasefoodOf food, to become unfit to eat.B1
“The milk will go off in this heat.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 4 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

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go off

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To go off is to explode or to sound — or, of food, to spoil. Three senses with nothing in common.

Definitions of go off

1phrasego offTo explode, or to sound suddenly.B2
“The alarm will go off if you open that door.”
2phrasefoodOf food, to become unfit to eat.B1
“The milk will go off in this heat.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 4 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word