go

present singular third person goes · participle present going · past went · obsolete past yode · nonstandard past goed · participle past gone · nonstandard participle past went · first person past singular went · archaic first person past singular yode · archaic present second person singular goest · past second person singular went · archaic past second person singular yode · archaic past second person singular wentest · present singular third person goes · archaic present singular third person goeth · past singular third person went

1. To move, either physically or in an abstract sense:
   1. intransitiveTo move through space (especially to or through a place). (May be used of tangible things such as people or cars, or intangible things such as moods or information.)

      Wow, look at him go!

      5 more examples

      Why don’t you go with us?

      This train goes through Cincinnati on its way to Chicago.

      Chris, where are you going?

      There's no public transit where I'm going.

      The rumour went all around town.

      Synonyms: move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross · Antonyms: freeze, halt, remain, stand still, stay, stop

   2. intransitiveTo move or travel through time (either literally—in a fictional or hypothetical situation in which time travel is possible—or in one's mind or knowledge of the historical record). (See also go back.)

      Fans want to see the Twelfth Doctor go to the 51st century to visit River in the library.

      3 more examples

      Yesterday was the second-wettest day on record; you have to go all the way back to 1896 to find a day when more rain fell.

      You have to go all the way back to Herbert Hoover to see a performance in the Standard & Poors 500 equal to what we are experiencing right now.

      2002 September 18, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 107th Congress, second session; Senate, page 17033

      "I don't know how to tell you this, Aubrey, but you can't go back to 1938 […] the program won't accept any date that I input before 1941." […] "Well, I'll go to 1941, then."

      2010, Charlotte Sadler, Time for One More Dance, →ISBN, page 162

      Synonyms: move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross · Antonyms: freeze, halt, remain, stand still, stay, stop

   3. intransitiveTo navigate (to a file or folder on a computer, a site on the internet, a memory, etc.).

      For the best definitions, go to wiktionary.org

      3 more examples

      To access Office-related TechNet resources, go to www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/office.

      2009, David J. Clark, The Unofficial Guide to Microsoft Office Word 2007, →ISBN, page 536

      Go to your earliest memory and to your favorite one, then to one that's difficult to consider.

      2009, Lisa W. Coyne, Amy R. Murrell, The Joy of Parenting, →ISBN

      Go to drive C: through My Computer (or Computer in Windows 7 and Vista) and double-click the c:\data folder.

      2012, Glen E. Clarke, Edward Tetz, CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One For Dummies, →ISBN, page 280

      Synonyms: move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross · Antonyms: freeze, halt, remain, stand still, stay, stop

   4. To move (a particular distance, or in a particular fashion).

      We've only gone twenty miles today.

      3 more examples

      This car can go circles around that one.

      The fight went the distance and was decided on points.

      The car went a short distance, then halted. There was something wrong with the carburetor.

      2003, Harrison E. Salisbury, The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad, →ISBN, page 307

      Synonyms: move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross · Antonyms: freeze, halt, remain, stand still, stay, stop

   5. intransitiveTo move or travel in order to do something, or to do something while moving.

      We went swimming.

      3 more examples

      Let's go shopping.

      Please go and get me some envelopes.

      ’[R]e you another agoin’ on this crazy voyage?

      1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 2

      Synonyms: move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross · Antonyms: freeze, halt, remain, stand still, stay, stop

   6. intransitiveTo leave; to move away.

      Please don't go!

      4 more examples

      I really must be going.

      Workmen were coming and going at all hours of the night.

      And following Dee, which Britons long ygone / Did call diuine, that doth by Cheſter tend; […]

      1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 39, page 167

      Like her I go; I cannot stay; ⁠I leave this mortal ark behind, A weight of nerves without a mind, And leave the cliffs, and haste away […]

      1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC

      Synonyms: move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross, depart · Antonyms: freeze, halt, remain, stand still, stay, stop, come, arrive

   7. To follow or proceed according to (a course or path).

      Let's go this way for a while.

      2 more examples

      She was going that way anyway, so she offered to show him where it was.

      I'm repeating it: I wish that you would go this path up to its end, that you shall find salvation!

      1951?, Gunther Olesch et al., Siddhartha, translation of original by Hermann Hesse

      Synonyms: move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross · Antonyms: freeze, halt, remain, stand still, stay, stop

   8. To travel or pass along.

      We went the full length of the promenade before we found a place to sit down.

      1 more example

      His life story goes the gamut, from poverty-stricken upbringing to colossal wealth.

      Synonyms: move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross · Antonyms: freeze, halt, remain, stand still, stay, stop

   9. intransitiveobsoleteTo walk; to travel on one's feet.First known use 11th–19th c.

      Master Piercie our new President, was so sicke hee could neither goe nor stand.

      1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 129

      2 more examples

      ‘As for that,’ seyde Sir Trystram, ‘I may chose othir to ryde othir to go.’

      1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XII

      Other brunts I also look for; but this I have resolved on, to wit, to run when I can, to go when I cannot run, and to creep when I cannot go.

      1684, John Bunyan, “Battle with Giant Slay-good”, in The Pilgrim's Progress, Part II Section 3

      Synonyms: move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross · Antonyms: freeze, halt, remain, stand still, stay, stop

2. intransitiveTo work or function (properly); to move or perform (as required).

   The engine just won't go anymore.

   3 more examples

   Don't put your hand inside while the motor's going!

   'Although the lemon is now black and shrivelled the motor is still going strong. If I can make my small motor run for month after month on a single lemon, just imagine how much "juice" there must be in a whole sackful', Mr Ashill said.

   1997, New Scientist, volume 154, page 105

   […] though his publisher swears black and blue that Kelder is still going strong and still remains an intensely private person.

   2008, Michael Buckley, Shangri-La: A Practical Guide to the Himalayan Dream, →ISBN, page 146

   Synonyms: function, work, operate, run

3. intransitiveTo start; to begin (an action or process).

   You've got thirty seconds to solve the anagram, starting now. Go!

   2 more examples

   At leaſt, I'm ſure I can fiſh it out of her. She's the very Sluce to her Lady's Secrets;—'Tis but ſetting her Mill agoing, and I can drein her of 'em all.

   1693, Will[iam] Congreve, The Old Batchelour, a Comedy. […], London: […] Peter Buck, […], →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 45

   Be listening for my voice. Go when you hear my voice say go.

   2001 June 18, a prophecy, quoted in Mary and the Unity of the Church →ISBN, page 49

4. intransitiveTo take a turn, especially in a game.

   It’s your turn; go.

   1 more example

   I've got all vowels. I don't think I can go.

   Synonyms: move, make one's move, take one’s turn

5. intransitiveTo attend.

   She went to Yale.

   2 more examples

   I go to school at the schoolhouse.

   They only go to church on Christmas.

6. To proceed:
   1. intransitiveTo proceed (often in a specified manner, indicating the perceived quality of an event or state).

      That went well.

      5 more examples

      "How are things going?" "Not bad, thanks."

      How goes the night, boy?

      c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

      I think, as the world goes, he was a good sort of man enough.

      1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations

      Whether the cause goes for me or against me, you must pay me the reward.

      1725, Isaac Watts, Logick: Or, The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth, […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Clark and Richard Hett, […], Emanuel Matthews, […], and Richard Ford, […], published 1726, →OCLC

      I certainly won't mention it to Ben, and will go carefully if he mentions it to me.

      1986, The Opera Quarterly, volume 4, numbers 3-4, page 24

   2. colloquialintransitivesometimes linked by andTo proceed (especially to do something foolish).

      Why'd you have to go do that?

      3 more examples

      Why'd you have to go and do that?

      He just went and punched the guy.

      And even if she had believed the story about a John Smith, she might go telling everyone in town about what she'd seen.

      2011, Debra Glass, Scarlet Widow, →ISBN, page 96

7. intransitiveTo extend along.

   The fence goes the length of the boundary.

   1 more example

   A shady promenade went the length of the street and the entrance to the hotel was a few steps back in the darkness, away from the glaring sunshine.

   2010, Luke Dixon, Khartoum, →ISBN, page 60

8. intransitiveTo extend (from one point in time or space to another).

   The working week goes from Monday to Friday.

   3 more examples

   This property goes all the way to the state line.

   I think those figures start from 1932 and go to 1941, inclusive, […]

   1946, Hearings Before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Congress of the United States, Seventy-ninth Congress, First Session, page 2459

   Even though they can give a basic fact such as 4×4, I don't know that this knowledge goes very deep for them.

   2007, Math for All: Differentiating instruction, grades K-2, →ISBN, page 38

9. intransitiveTo lead (to a place); to give access (to).

   Does this road go to Fort Smith?

   1 more example

   “Where does this door go?” Bev asked as she pointed to a door painted a darker green than the powder green color of the carpet. Janet answered. “That door goes to the back yard.”

   2013, Without Delusion, →ISBN, page 191

10. To become, move to or come to (a state, position, situation)
    1. copulativerather informalTo become (often used with colors and negative states).

       I went crazy.

       5 more examples

       Near-synonyms: become, get, turn, come, fall, grow, wax

       You'll go blind.

       The milk went bad.

       After failing as a criminal, he decided to go straight.

       The video clip went viral.

       Synonyms: become, get, turn, come, fall, grow, wax

    2. To move to (a position or state).

       They went level with their rivals.

       1 more example

       If we can win on Saturday, we'll go top of the league.

    3. To come (to a certain condition or state).

       They went into debt.

       1 more example

       She goes to sleep around 10 o'clock.

11. To assume the obligation or function of; to be, to serve as.

    Most welfare workers are not allowed to go surety for clients.

    2010, Jane Sanders, Youth Justice: Your Guide to Cops and Courts, →ISBN

    1 more example

    There is scarcely a business man who is not occasionally asked to go bail for somebody.

    1912, The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, volume 36, page 17

12. copulativeintransitiveTo continuously or habitually be in a state.

    We went barefoot in the summer.

    1 more example

    I don't want my children to go hungry.

13. To turn out, to result; to come to (a certain result).

    The decision went the way we expected.

    1 more example

    When Wharton had to relinquish his seat in Buckinghamshire on his elevation to the peerage in 1696, he was unable to replace himself with a suitable man, and the by-election went in favour of a local Tory, Lord Cheyne.

    2014, Tim Harris, Politics Under the Later Stuarts, →ISBN, page 195

14. intransitiveTo tend (toward a result).

    Well, that goes to show you.

    1 more example

    These experiences go to make us stronger.

15. To contribute to a (specified) end product or result.

    qualities that go to make a lady / lip-reader / sharpshooter

    2 more examples

    What can we know of any substance or existence, but as made up of all the qualities that go to its composition: extension, solidity, form, colour; take these away, and you know nothing.

    1839, A Challenge to Phrenologists; Or, Phrenology Tested, page 155

    The avoirdupois pound is one of 7,000 grains, and go to the pound.

    1907, Patrick Doyle, Indian Engineering, volume 41, page 181

16. To pass, to be used up:
    1. intransitiveTo elapse, to pass; to slip away. (Compare go by.)

       The time went slowly.

       2 more examples

       But the days went and went, and she never came; and then I thought I would come here where you were.

       1850, “Sketches of New England Character”, in Holden's Dollar Magazine, volumes 5-6, page 731

       The rest of the morning went quickly and before Su knew it Jean was knocking on the door […]

       2008, Sue Raymond, Hidden Secrets, →ISBN, page 357

    2. intransitiveTo end or disappear. (Compare go away.)

       After three days, my headache finally went.

       Synonyms: disappear, vanish, go away, end, dissipate · Antonyms: remain, stay, hold

    3. intransitiveTo be spent or used up.

       His money went on drink.

       1 more example

       All I have is a sleeping bag right now. All my money goes to keep up the cars.

       2011, Ross Macdonald, Black Money, →ISBN, page 29

17. intransitiveTo die.

    I want to go in my sleep.

    3 more examples

    By Saint George, he's gone! / That spear wound hath our master sped.

    1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “(please specify the introduction or canto number, or chapter name)”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC

    After two years of swaddled invalidism, Mrs. Morton emitted a final gassy sigh and died, whereas twenty years later Elihu was to go “just like that,” as the neighbors said, from a stroke.

    1978, David Galloway, A Family Album, London: John Calder, →ISBN, page 36

    "Your father's gone." "Okay, okay, the Gaffer's kicked off. What happened?"

    1997, John Wheatcroft, The Education of Malcolm Palmer, →ISBN, page 85

    Synonyms: assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more, be with Jesus, be with the Lord

18. To be lost or out:
    1. intransitiveball gamesTo be lost.

       The third wicket went just before lunch.

    2. intransitiveball gamesTo be out.

       Smith bowls ... Jones hits it straight up in the air ... and ... caught! Jones has gone!

19. To break down or apart:
    1. intransitiveTo collapse or give way, to break apart.

       Careful! It looks as if that ceiling could go at any moment!

       4 more examples

       'Back!' cried Carrados. 'The cliff is going!' The cliff, as Mr Lidmarsh had remarked, had been going for centuries—going by inches, by feet, or by yards. […] Now the cliff face—all the ground beyond the fissure—began to fall rigidly away […]

       1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

       I wonder if I hopped up and down, would the bridge go?

       1998, Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, →ISBN, page 157

       Sober-eyed commentators safe in their television studios interviewed engineers about the chances that the rest of the dam could go.

       2011, Shaunti Feldhahn, The Lights of Tenth Street, →ISBN

       Jackson shook his head. "The contractor said those panes could go at any moment." / "Right. Just like the wiring could go at any moment, and the roof could go at any moment."

       2012, Carolyn Keene, Mardi Gras Masquerade, →ISBN, page 38

       Synonyms: crumble, collapse, disintegrate, give way

    2. intransitiveTo break down or decay.

       My mind is going.

       1 more example

       She's 83; her eyesight is starting to go.

20. intransitiveTo be sold.

    The car went for five thousand dollars.

    1 more example

    The store is closing down so everything must go.

21. intransitiveTo be discarded or disposed of.

    This chair has got to go.

    2 more examples

    All this old rubbish can go.

    Preservation of two railway routes between Belfast and Derry could no longer be justified and one of them must go.

    1956 May, “Transport in Ulster”, in Railway Magazine, page 280

22. intransitiveTo be given, especially to be assigned or allotted.

    The property shall go to my wife.

    2 more examples

    The award went to Steven Spielberg.

    If my money goes to education, I want a report card.

    2007, David Bouchier, The Song of Suburbia: Scenes from Suburban Life, →ISBN, page 19

23. intransitivetransitiveTo survive or get by; to last or persist for a stated length of time.

    How long can you go without water?

    3 more examples

    We've gone without your help for a while now.

    I've gone ten days now without a cigarette.

    Can you two go twenty minutes without arguing?!

24. transitivehobbiesTo have a certain record.

    The team is going five in a row.

    4 more examples

    They've gone one for three in this series.

    Against the Big Green, Princeton went the entire first and third quarters without gaining a first down, […]

    1983, Princeton Alumni Weekly, volume 84, page 48

    England have now gone four games without a win at Wembley, their longest sequence without a victory in 30 years, and still have much work to do to reach Euro 2012 as they prepare for a testing trip to face Bulgaria in Sofia in September.

    2011 June 4, Phil McNulty, “England 2-2 Switzerland”, in BBC

    'Surely one cannot go for long in this world to-day without at least a thought for St Simon Stylites?'

    2011, H. R. F. Keating, Zen there was Murder →ISBN

25. To be authoritative, accepted, or valid:
    1. intransitiveOf an opinion or instruction, to have (final) authority; to be authoritative.

       Whatever the boss says goes, do you understand?

    2. intransitiveTo be accepted.

       Anything goes around here.

       2 more examples

       The money which remains should go according to its true value.

       1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC

       Now I found you down on the wrong side of town/Laughing and singing with the boys/Now darling you know that that sort of stuff don't go/So baby you gotta quit that noise

       1945, Johnny Bond, “Baby You Gotta Quit That Noise”

    3. intransitiveTo be valid or applicable.

       The baked beans can go on this shelf, and the same goes for all these other tins.

       1 more example

       [To job interviews, wear] muted colors. No pink or paisley (that goes for you too, guys!) […]

       2014, Shayna Lance King, If You'd Read This Book: You'd Be Employed By Now, →ISBN, page 22

26. To say (something), to make a sound:
    1. colloquialtransitiveTo say (something, aloud or to oneself).

       As soon as I did it, I went "that was stupid."

       1 more example

       I go, "As if!" And she was all like, "Whatever!"

    2. transitiveTo make the (specified) sound.

       Cats go "meow". Motorcycles go "vroom".

    3. intransitiveTo sound; to make a noise.

       I woke up just before the clock went.

       1 more example

       At 4pm, the phone went. It was The Sun: 'We hear your daughter's been expelled for cheating at her school exams[…]' / / She'd made a remark to a friend at the end of the German exam and had been pulled up for talking. / / As they left the exam room, she muttered that the teacher was a 'twat'. He heard and flipped—a pretty stupid thing to do, knowing the kids were tired and tense after exams. Instead of dropping it, the teacher complained to the Head and Deb was carpeted.

       1992 June 24, Edwina Currie, Diary

27. To be expressed or composed (a certain way).

    The tune goes like this.

    1 more example

    As the story goes, he got the idea for the song while sitting in traffic.

28. intransitiveTo resort (to).

    The nylon gears kept breaking, so we went to stainless steel.

29. To apply or subject oneself to:
    1. To apply oneself; to undertake; to have as one's goal or intention. (Compare be going to.)

       I wish you'd go and get a job.

       5 more examples

       I'm going to join a sports team.

       He went to pick it up, but it rolled out of reach.

       He's going to leave town tomorrow.

       Seeing himself confronted by so many, like a resolute orator, he went not to denial, but to justify his cruel falsehood.

       The New Arcadia

       a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC

       Now I didn't go to make that mistake about the record-breaking drought of more than fifty years ago, but, boy, am I glad I made it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have heard from Joe Almand.

       1990, Celestine Sibley, Tokens of myself, →ISBN, page 73

    2. intransitiveTo make an effort, to subject oneself (to something).

       You didn't have to go to such trouble.

       2 more examples

       I never thought he'd go so far as to call you.

       She went to great expense to help them win.

    3. intransitiveTo work (through or over), especially mentally.

       Let's not go into that right now.

       1 more example

       I've gone over this a hundred times.

30. To fit (in a place, or together with something):
    1. intransitiveoftenTo fit.

       The belt just barely went around his waist.

       1 more example

       Do you think the sofa will go through the door?

       Synonyms: fit, pass, stretch, come, make it

    2. intransitiveTo be compatible, especially of colors or food and drink.

       This shade of red doesn't go with the drapes.

       1 more example

       White wine goes better with fish than red wine.

       Synonyms: harmonize · Antonyms: clash

    3. intransitiveTo belong (somewhere).

       My shirts go on this side of the wardrobe.

       1 more example

       This piece of the jigsaw goes on the other side.

       Synonyms: belong, have a place

    4. intransitiveball gamesOf a ball, to be capable of being potted, not having its path to the pocket obstructed by other balls.

       He'd like to pot the pink, but I don't think it will go. The green's in the way.

31. intransitiveTo date.

    How long have they been going together?

    1 more example

    He's been going with her for two weeks.

    Synonyms: go out, date, see

32. transitiveTo (begin to) date or have sex with (a particular race).

    “She went black,” he remembers. “She only started dating black guys. Or foreigners.”

    2017 May 16, Judith A. Yates, "She Is Evil!": Madness and Murder in Memphis, WildBlue Press, →ISBN, →OCLC

    5 more examples

    You can date black, you can do white, on a slow night maybe even go for an Asian boy, but most likely you'll go Latino unless the aforementioned guys speak a little Spanish […]

    2005, Frederick Smith, Down For Whatever, Kensington Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 197

    I felt that was an insult to John Lennon, but I married her anyway. Thinking back, I should have gone Asian.

    2010 November 9, Greg Fitzsimmons, Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 166

    “I could give a flying fuck less if Ronnie dated a Martian, but the fact of the matter is that it would not be cool for him to go Asian. He knows it and I know it.” Ronnie did not respond at all. Shit, he wanted to date Tai in the worst way, […]

    2010, Marty Nazzaro, The City of Presidents, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 131

    In fact, Hispanics and Asians are riding the wave—26 percent of Latino and 31 percent of Asian newlywed couples were mixed race or ethnicity. And, when marrying out, we went white—four in ten Latinos married a white spouse, […]

    2011 May 3, Sandra Guzmán, The New Latina’s Bible: The Modern Latina’s Guide to Love, Spirituality, Family, and La Vida, Basic Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC

    She's gone black now. That's a big change for you, Cassie. So tell me, is it true what they say about black men?

    2012 March 1, Sylvia Lett, All Night Lover, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 182

33. To attack:
    1. intransitiveTo fight or attack.

       I went at him with a knife.

       1 more example

       You wanna go, little man?

       2002, “Objects in Space”, in Firefly, Jayne Cobb (actor)

    2. USobsoleteslangtransitiveTo fight.

       You've shown me his weak points, and I'll go him whether you stick by me or not.

       1900, Burt L. Standish, Frank Merriwell's Tricks: Or True Friends and False

    3. AustralianslangtransitiveTo attack.

       As big as me. Strong, too. I was itching to go him, And he had clouted Ernie.

       1964, Robert Close, Love Me Sailor, page 131

       2 more examples

       Then I′m sure I heard him mutter ‘Why don′t you get fucked,’ under his breath. It was at that moment that I became a true professional. Instead of going him, I announced the next song.

       2002, James Freud, I am the Voice Left from Drinking, unnumbered page

       Tom stepped back, considered the hill, and taking off down it. She was going to go him for blowing that flamin′ whistle in her ear all day.

       2005, Joy Dettman, One Sunday, page 297

34. Used to express how some category of things generally is, as a reference for, contrast to, or comparison with, a particular example.

    My cat Fluffy is very timid, as cats go.

    4 more examples

    As far as burgers go, this is one of the best.

    Booster is not a loud trumpeter as elephants go.

    1975, Private Eye, numbers 340-366, page 9

    They are fairly rough and ready as models go, not often driven to the rigor of an authentic scientific law, and never worried about coming out with some revolutionary mathematical language — but models nonetheless, […]

    1982, Fernand Braudel, On History, →ISBN, page 40

    She was, as girls go, scrawny and muscular, yet her boyish frame had in the last year betrayed her.

    1991, Katherine Paterson, Lyddie

35. transitiveTo take (a particular part or share); to participate in to the extent of.

    Let's go halves on this.

    1 more example

    They were to go equal shares in the booty.

    1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC

36. transitiveTo yield or weigh.

    Those babies go five tons apiece.

    1 more example

    This'll go three tons to the acre, or I'll eat my shirt.

    1910, Ray Stannard Baker, Adventures in Friendship, page 182

37. intransitivetransitiveTo offer, bid or bet an amount; to pay; to sell for.

    I'll go a ten-spot.

    5 more examples

    That's as high as I can go.

    We could go two fifty.

    I'll go you a shilling.

    I'll go him one better.

    Should you find that they do not "go" at 2/- please reduce the price at your discretion.

    ca. 1925, “Letter from Gwendolen Coleridge-Taylor Dashwood to W. E. B. Du Bois”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name) (correspondence)

    Synonyms: go for

38. colloquialtransitiveTo enjoy. (Compare go for.)

    I could go a beer right about now.

    1 more example

    'But I bet you could go a cup of tea? I know I could. Always ready for char.' He looked over my shoulder towards Albert Hicks, who was standing in the doorway. 'Albert, could you rustle up a pot of our best Darjeeling?[…]'

    1996, Jonathan Goodman, The Last Sentence, Chivers North America, →ISBN

39. colloquialintransitiveTo go to the toilet; to urinate or defecate.

    I really need to go.

    3 more examples

    Have you managed to go today, Mrs. Miggins?

    Clarence was just as surprised to see Richard, and he went—right there in the doorway. I had slept through all this mayhem on the other side of the apartment. By the time I got up, these were all semi-comical memories and the urine had been cleaned up.

    2006, Kevin Blue, Practical Justice: Living Off-Center in a Self-Centered World, →ISBN, page 54

    You're peeing more than eight or so times per day, and when you need to go, you need to go.

    2026, Kevin Dupzyk, “The Semi-Complete User's Guide to Your Prostate”, in Men's Health, volume 41, number 2, page 20

    Synonyms: break the seal, hit the head, micturate, pass water, pee, piddle, piss, slash

40. imperativeExpressing encouragement or approval.

    Go, girl! You can do it!

41. AustraliaMulticultural London EnglishSingaporeUKabbreviationclippingcolloquialespeciallyintransitiveClipping of go to the.

    Going pub now :)

    2018 June 17, mya hill, Twitter

    5 more examples

    Ffs I really want to go pub now

    2021 September 9, __merrycrisis, Reddit

    I went shop and the boss man said, "Don't pay me it's fine".

    2018 September 14, “Don't Gas Me” (track 1), in Don't Gas Me, performed by Dizzie Rascal

    I’m gonna go shops on Monday arvo.

    2021 October 11, Wilton Public School, “Archived copy”, in Grammar_Focus_Wk3_Y4.pdf, archived from the original on 18 Mar 2025

    Guys I went McDonalds

    2023 November 25, 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕊𝕦𝕘𝕒𝕣 🌸, Twitter

    I had a severe stomach pain, my GP was closed so had to go hospital at 6 am

    2024 September 5, NotSureIfIWanna20, “I was sick yesterday, went hospital in the morning at 6 am and came back at 9am.”, in Reddit

42. colloquialeuphemisticintransitiveTo fight, usually with the fists.

    You said WHAT about my mom? Do you want to go, bro?

43. intransitiveusuallyTo pass (a specified time) in gestation; to be pregnant.

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:go.

plural goes · alternative Northumbria gan

1. countableuncommonuncountableThe act of going.

   They talk easily together and they hear the come and go of the breeze in the soon to be turning burnt leaves of the high trees.

   2009, Mark Raney, David Midgett, →ISBN, page 68

   1 more example

   The Apostles were to be the first of a line. They would multiply successors, and the successors would die and their successors after them, but the line would never fail; and the come and go of men would not matter, since it is the one Christ operating through all of them.

   1993, Francis J. Sheed, Theology and Sanity, →ISBN

2. countableuncountableA turn at something, or in something (e.g. a game).

   It’s your go.

   1 more example

   You’ve been on that pinball machine long enough—now let your brother have a go.

   Synonyms: stint, turn, move, turn

3. countableuncountableAn attempt, a try.

   I’ll give it a go.

   1 more example

   You have to stay and we will have a go at winning the championship next season."

   2012, Alex Montgomery, Martin O'Neill: The Biography, →ISBN, page 196

   Synonyms: attempt, bash, shot, stab, try

4. countableuncountableA period of activity.

   ate it all in one go

   1 more example

   This could mean that the artist traced the illustration in two goes, as it were, or that the Utrecht Psalter slipped while he was tracing, but I do not think that the relative proportions are consistent enough to demonstrate this.

   1995, William Noel, The Harley Psalter, →ISBN, page 65

5. countableuncountableA time; an experience.

   "She's had a rough go of things and no one wants to see her hurt.” Jason stared at Kate's slender frame, backlit by a spear of sunlight breaking through the cloud cover. "Then that makes the entire town plus one."

   2013 July 2, Addison Fox, From This Moment On: An Alaskan Nights Novella (A Penguin Special from Signet Eclipse), Penguin, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Even if she was bigger and more mature, she would have a tough go of it. We have read a lot on this diagnosis and have known from the beginning what she has been up against.” “It's true about this being a tough go,” I said. “Listen, I'm very sorry, but I'm on call here tomorrow and I will[…]"

   2011 May 20, Sue L Hall M D, For the Love of Babies: One Doctor's Stories about Life in the Neonatal ICU, WorldMaker Media, →ISBN, page 155

   With public opinion turned more empathetic toward AF with the bombing of their building, Sarah and the Justice Department would have a tough go of it. But if this really was true [that they were behind the bombing themselves], and the media got ahold of it. . .

   2015 May 26, Dr. Kevin Leman, Jeff Nesbit, A Perfect Ambition (The Worthington Destiny Book 1): A Novel, Revell, →ISBN

6. countabledatedslanguncountableA circumstance or occurrence; an incident, often unexpected.

   1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, in 1868, The Works of Charles Dickens, Volume 2: Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, American Notes, page 306, “Well, this is a pretty go, is this here! An uncommon pretty go!

   4 more examples

   “Ain't this a rum go? This is a queer sort of dodge for lighting the streets.”

   1869, Punch, volume 57, page 257

   The images of Mrs. Squeers, my daughter, and my son Wackford, all short of vittles, is perpetually before me; every other consideration melts away and vanishes, in front of these; the only number in all arithmetic that I know of, as a husband and a father, is number one, under this here most fatal go!

   1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby

   "Supposing now that some of them were to slip into the boat at night and cut the cable, make off with her? That would be a pretty go, that would."

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

   “It’s a rum go and no mistake.”

   2018 February 11, Colin Dexter, Russell Lewis, 01:02:03 from the start, in Endeavour(Cartouche), season 5, episode 2 (TV series), spoken by DCI Fred Thursday (Roger Allam)

7. countableuncountableAn approval or permission to do something, or that which has been approved.

   We will begin as soon as the boss says it's a go.

   2 more examples

   "Well, Tom, is it a go? You can trust me, for you'll have the thousand in your pocket before you start.[…]"

   1894, Bret Harte, The Sheriff of Siskyou

   And as soon as we gave them the go to continue, we lost communication.

   2009, Craig Nelson, Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon, →ISBN

   Synonyms: green light

8. countableuncountableAn act; the working or operation.

   1598, John Marston, Pigmalion, The Metamorphosis of Pigmalions Image and Certaine Satyres, 1856, J. O. Halliwell (editor), The Works of John Marston: Reprinted from the Original Editions, Volume 3, page 211, Let this suffice, that that same happy night, So gracious were the goes of marriage […]

9. countabledateduncountableThe fashion or mode.

   quite the go

   1 more example

   We are blowing each other out of the market with cheapness; but it is all the go, so we must not be behind the age.

   1852, Jane Thomas (née Pinhorn), The London and Paris ladies' magazine of fashion (page 97)

   Synonyms: mode, style, trend

10. countabledateduncountableNoisy merriment.

    a high go

    1 more example

    Gemmen (says he), you all well know The joy there is whene'er we meet; It's what I call the primest go, And rightly named, 'tis—'quite a treat,' […]

    1820, Thomas Moore, W. Simpkin, R. Marshall, Jack Randall's Diary of Proceedings at the House of Call for Genius

11. archaiccountableslanguncountableA glass of spirits; a quantity of spirits.

    “Then, if you value it so highly,” I said, “you can hardly object to stand half a go of brandy for its recovery.”

    1868 March, In a City Bus, in the Eclectic Magazine, new series volume VII, number 3

    2 more examples

    Jack Randall then impatient rose, / And said, ‘Tom's speech were just as fine / If he would call that first of goes [i.e. gin] / By that genteeler name—white wine.'

    1820, Thomas Moore, W. Simpkin, R. Marshall, Jack Randall's Diary of Proceedings at the House of Call for Genius

    When the cloth was removed, Mr. Thomas Potter ordered the waiter to bring in two goes of his best Scotch whiskey, with warm water and sugar, and a couple of his "very mildest" Havannas,

    1836, Charles Dickens, Sketches by Boz

    Synonyms: gage, measure

12. countabledateduncountableA portion

    Albert's uncle had had a jolly good breakfast—fish and eggs and bacon and three goes of marmalade.

    1904, E[dith] Nesbit, “(please specify the page)”, in New Treasure Seekers, London: Ernest Benn, →OCLC

13. uncountablePower of going or doing; energy; vitality; perseverance.

    There is no go in him.

    Synonyms: energy, flair, liveliness, perseverance, pizzazz, spirit, verve, vigour

14. countableuncountablecribbageThe situation where a player cannot play a card which will not carry the aggregate count above thirty-one.
15. BritishcountableobsoleteslanguncountableA dandy; a fashionable person.

    See Thesaurus:dandy

    2 more examples

    That TOM, who was the GO among the GOES, in the very centre of fashion in London, should have to encounter the vulgar stare of this village; or, that the dairy-maid should leave off skimming her cream to take a peep at our hero, as he mounted his courser, is not at all surprising: and TOM only smiled at this provincial sort of rudeness.

    1881, Pierce Egan, chapter VII, in Tom and Jerry, page 136

    He's a go among the goes, is Mr. Kestrel. He's only got to sport a new kind of topper, or tie his crumpler a new way, and every gentry-cove in town does just the same.

    2012, Kate Ross, A Broken Vessel

alternative Northumbria gan

1. not comparablepostpositionalchiefly military and space flightWorking correctly and ready to commence operation; approved and able to be put into action.

   John Glenn reports all systems are go.

   1962, United States. Congress, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the […] Congress, page 2754

   3 more examples

   "Life support system is go," said the earphone.

   1964, Instruments and Control Systems

   “Green One has four starts and is go.”

   2011, Matthew Stover, Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor: Star Wars Legends, Del Rey, →ISBN

   “Weapons ready?” Sam and I pull our loaded BB guns out of the bag and slot them into place in the longholsters on our backs.“ Weapons are go,” Sam replied.

   2016, Tim Brewster, Stuck: It's About to Get Very Weird […] , Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 118

alternative Go

1. uncountableboard gamesA strategic board game, originally from China and today also popular in Japan and Korea, in which two players (black and white) attempt to control the largest area of the board with their counters.

   Synonyms: weiqi, baduk

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of Gorontalo: a province of Indonesia.
2. abbreviationAbbreviation of Goiás: a state of Brazil.

1. abbreviationinitialismuncountableInitialism of graphene oxide.

1. uncountableAlternative letter-case form of go (“strategic board game”).

   It is shown that Stratego is a complex game when compared to other games, such as chess and Hex. The game-tree complexity of 10⁵³⁵ exceeds the game-tree complexity of Go.

   2010 March 28, Sander Arts, “COMPETITIVE PLAY IN STRATEGO”, in Maastricht University, archived from the original on 03 Jan 2022, page vii

1. computer languagesA compiled, garbage-collected, concurrent programming language developed by Google.

   Despite the lower priority placed on features, Go isn't a static, unchanging language. New features are adopted slowly, after much discussion and experimentation. Since the initial release of Go 1.0, there have been significant changes to the patterns that define idiomatic Go.

   2021, Jon Bodner, Learning Go, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 327

   Synonyms: Golang