go their separate ways

verb

Of two or more people, to cease travelling or spending time together; to depart with different destinations.

“Everybody / everyone goes their separate ways.”

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Meanings

verbgo their separate ways (third-person singular simple present goes their separate ways, present participle going their separate ways, simple past went their separate ways, past participle gone their separate ways)

present singular third person goes their separate ways · participle present going their separate ways · past went their separate ways · participle past gone their separate ways

  1. idiomaticOf two or more people, to cease travelling or spending time together; to depart with different destinations.

    Everybody / everyone goes their separate ways.

    1 more example

    […] the lease which brought about the formation of the M.S.J.A.R. came to nothing, and the two companies went their separate ways.

    1957 October 28, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Manchester—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 721
  2. broadlyfigurativelyidiomaticOf two or more people, to end a (romantic, professional, etc.) relationship.
Cite this entry
APA

go their separate ways. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20their%20separate%20ways

MLA

“go their separate ways.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20their%20separate%20ways. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “go their separate ways,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20their%20separate%20ways.

Source: go their separate ways on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.