1
general::
Phrase(s): go off (into something)
to go away to something; to depart and go into something. • He went off into the army. • Do you expect me just to go off into the world and make a living?, Phrase(s): go off (by oneself)
to go into seclusion; to isolate oneself. • She went off by herself where no one could find her. • I have to go off and think about this., Phrase(s): go off
1. Lit. [for an explosive device] to explode. • The fireworks all went off as scheduled. • The bomb went off and did a lot of damage. 2. Lit. [for a sound-creating device] to make its noise. • The alarm went off at six o’clock. • The siren goes off at noon every day. 3. Fig. [for an event] to happen or take place. • The party went off as planned. • Did your medical examination go off as well as you had hoped?, Phrase(s): go off (with someone)
to go away with someone. • Tom just now went off with Maggie. • I think that Maria went off with Fred somewhere.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
1. Explode, detonate; also, make noise, sound, especially abruptly. For example, I heard the gun go off, or The sirens went off at noon. This expression developed in the late 1500s and gave rise about 1700 to the related go off half-cocked, now meaning "to act prematurely" but originally referring to the slipping of a gun's hammer so that the gun fires (goes off) unexpectedly. 2. Leave, depart, especially suddenly, as in Don't go off mad, or They went off without saying goodbye. [c. 1600] 3. Keep to the expected plan or course of events, succeed, as in The project went off smoothly. [Second half of 1700s] 4. Deteriorate in quality, as in This milk seems to have gone off. [Late 1600s] 5. Die. Shakespeare used this sense in Macbeth (5:9): "I would the friends we missed were safely arrived.? Some must go off." 6. Experience orgasm. D.H. Lawrence used this slangy sense in Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928): "You couldn't go off at the same time. . . ." This usage is probably rare today. Also see GET OFF, def. 8. 7. go off on a tangent. See under ON A TANGENT. 8. go off one's head. See OFF ONE'S HEAD. Also see subsequent idioms beginning with GO OFF.
American Heritage Idioms