/ gəʊ; NAmE goʊ/ verb , noun
■ verb
( goes / gəʊz; NAmE goʊz/ went / went; NAmE / gone / gɒn; NAmE gɔːn; gɑːn/)
HELP NOTE : Been is used as the past participle of go when sb has gone somewhere and come back.
MOVE / TRAVEL
1.
to move or travel from one place to another :
[ v + adv. / prep. ]
She went into her room and shut the door behind her.
He goes to work by bus.
I have to go to Rome on business.
She has gone to China (= is now in China or is on her way there) .
She has been to China (= she went to China and has now returned) .
I think you should go to the doctor's.
Are you going home for Christmas?
[ v to inf ]
She has gone to see her sister this weekend.
HELP NOTE : In spoken English go can be used with and plus another verb to show purpose or to tell sb what to do:
I'll go and answer the door.
Go and get me a drink!
The and is sometimes left out, especially in NAmE :
Go ask your mom!
2.
[ v ] go (to sth) (with sb) to move or travel, especially with sb else, to a particular place or in order to be present at an event :
Are you going to Dave's party?
Who else is going?
His dog goes everywhere with him.
3.
[+ adv. / prep. ] to move or travel in a particular way or over a particular distance :
[ v ]
He's going too fast.
[ vn ]
We had gone about fifty miles when the car broke down.
4.
[ v -ing , usually + adv. / prep. ] go flying, singing, etc. to move in a particular way or while doing sth else :
The car went skidding off the road into a ditch.
She went sobbing up the stairs.
She crashed into a waiter and his tray of drinks went flying.
LEAVE
5.
[ v ] to leave one place in order to reach another
SYN depart :
I must be going now.
They came at six and went at nine.
Has she gone yet?
He's been gone an hour (= he left an hour ago) .
When does the train go?
6.
[ v ] go on sth to leave a place and do sth different :
to go on a journey / a tour / a trip / a cruise
Richard has gone on leave for two weeks.
VISIT / ATTEND
7.
[ v ] go to sth to visit or attend a place for a particular purpose :
( BrE )
I have to go to hospital for an operation.
( NAmE )
I have to go to the hospital.
to go to prison (= to be sent there as punishment for a crime)
Do you go to church (= regularly attend church services) ?
SWIMMING / FISHING / JOGGING, etc.
8.
go for sth to leave a place or travel to a place in order to take part in an activity or a sport :
to go for a walk / drive / swim / run
Shall we go for a drink (= at a pub or bar) after work?
I have to go shopping this afternoon.
We're going sailing on Saturday.
BE SENT
9.
[ v , usually + adv. / prep. ] to be sent or passed somewhere :
I want this memo to go to all managers.
LEAD
10.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] go (from ... ) to ... to lead or extend from one place to another :
I want a rope that will go from the top window to the ground.
Where does this road go?
PLACE / SPACE
11.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] to have as a usual or correct position; to be placed :
This dictionary goes on the top shelf.
Where do you want the piano to go (= be put) ?
12.
[ v ] will / would not ~ (in / into sth) used to say that sth does / did not fit into a particular place or space :
My clothes won't all go in that one suitcase.
He tried to push his hand through the gap but it wouldn't go.
NUMBERS
13.
go (into sth) if a number will go into another number, it is contained in that number an exact number of times :
[ v - n ]
3 into 12 goes 4.
[ v ]
7 into 15 won't go.
( NAmE )
7 into 15 doesn't go.
7 won't go into 15.
PROGRESS
14.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] used to talk about how well or badly sth makes progress or succeeds :
'How did your interview go?' 'It went very well, thank you.'
Did everything go smoothly?
How's it going (= is your life enjoyable, successful, etc. at the moment) ?
The way things are going the company will be bankrupt by the end of the year.
STATE / CONDITION
15.
[ v ] go to / into sth | go out of sth used in many expressions to show that sb/sth has reached a particular state / is no longer in a particular state :
She went to sleep.
That colour has gone out of fashion.
16.
linking verb [ v - adj ] to become different in a particular way, especially a bad way :
to go bald / blind / mad / bankrupt, etc.
Her hair is going grey .
This milk has gone sour .
The children went wild with excitement.
➡ note at become
17.
[ v - adj ] to live or move around in a particular state :
to go naked / barefoot
She cannot bear the thought of children going hungry.
18.
[ v - adj ] go unnoticed, unreported, etc. to not be noticed, reported, etc. :
Police are worried that many crimes go unreported.
SONG / STORY
19.
used to talk about what tune or words a song or poem has or what happens in a story :
[ v + adv. / prep. ]
How does that song go?
I forget how the next line goes.
[ v that ]
The story goes that she's been married five times.
SOUND / MOVEMENT
20.
to make a particular sound or movement :
[ v - n ]
The gun went 'bang'.
[ v + adv. / prep. ]
She went like this with her hand.
21.
[ v ] to be sounded as a signal or warning :
The whistle went for the end of the game.
SAY
22.
[ v speech ] ( informal ) (used when telling a story) to say :
I asked 'How much?' and he goes, 'Fifty' and I go, 'Fifty? You must be joking!'
START
23.
[ v ] to start an activity :
I'll say 'One, two, three, go!' as a signal for you to start.
As soon as he gets here we're ready to go.
MACHINE
24.
[ v ] if a machine goes , it works :
This clock doesn't go.
DISAPPEAR
25.
[ v ] to stop existing; to be lost or stolen
SYN disappear :
Has your headache gone yet?
I left my bike outside the library and when I came out again it had gone.
BE THROWN OUT
26.
[ v ] sb/sth must / has to / can ~ used to talk about wanting to get rid of sb/sth :
The old sofa will have to go.
He's useless—he'll have to go.
NOT WORK
27.
[ v ] to get worse; to become damaged or stop working correctly :
Her sight is beginning to go.
His mind is going (= he is losing his mental powers) .
I was driving home when my brakes went.
DIE
28.
[ v ] to die. People say 'go' to avoid saying 'die' :
You can't take your money with you when you go.
MONEY
29.
[ v ] go (on sth) when money goes , it is spent or used for sth :
I don't know where the money goes!
Most of my salary goes on the rent.
The money will go to finance a new community centre.
30.
[ v ] go (to sb) (for sth) to be sold :
We won't let the house go for less than $200 000.
There was usually some bread going cheap (= being sold cheaply) at the end of the day.
31.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] to be willing to pay a particular amount of money for sth :
He's offered £3 000 for the car and I don't think he'll go any higher.
I'll go to $1 000 but that's my limit.
HELP
32.
[ v to inf ] to help; to play a part in doing sth :
This all goes to prove my theory.
It (= what has just happened) just goes to show you can't always tell how people are going to react.
BE AVAILABLE
33.
be going [ v ] ( informal ) to be available :
There just aren't any jobs going in this area.
TIME
34.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] used to talk about how quickly or slowly time seems to pass :
Hasn't the time gone quickly?
USE TOILET
35.
[ v ] ( informal ) to use a toilet :
Do you need to go, Billy?
•
IDIOMS
Most idioms containing go are at the entries for the nouns and adjectives in the idioms, for example go it alone is at alone .
- anything goes
- as people, things, etc. go
- be going on (for) sth
- be going to do sth
- don't go doing sth
- enough / something to be going on with
- go all out for sth | go all out to do sth
- go and do sth
- go off on one
- go on (with you)
- (have) a lot, nothing, etc. going for you
- no go
- not (even) go there
- to go
- what goes around comes around
- where does sb go from here?
- who goes there?
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- go about
- go about sth
- go about sth
- go after sb
- go after sb/sth
- go against sb
- go against sb/sth
- go against sth
- go ahead
- go ahead (with sth)
- go along
- go along with sb/sth
- go around / round
- go around / round (to ... )
- go at sb
- go at sth
- go away
- go back
- go back (to ... )
- go back (to sth)
- go back on sth
- go back to sth
- go before
- go before sb/sth
- go beyond sth
- go by
- go by sth
- go down
- go down (from ... )
- go down (in sth)
- go down (on sb)
- go down (to sb)
- go down (to ... ) (from ... )
- go down (with sb)
- go down with sth
- go for sb
- go for sb/sth
- go for sth
- go in
- go in for sth
- go in with sb
- go into sth
- go off
- go off (on sb)
- go off sb/sth
- go off with sb
- go off with sth
- go on
- go on (ahead)
- go on sth
- go on (about sb/sth)
- go on (at sb)
- go on (with sth)
- go on doing sth
- go on to sth
- go on to do sth
- go out
- go out (of sth)
- go out of sb/sth
- go out to sb
- go out with sb | go out (together)
- go over sth
- go over (to ... )
- go over to sb/sth
- go over to sth
- go over (with sb)
- go round
- go round (to ... )
- go through
- go through sth
- go through with sth
- go to sb/sth
- go together
- go towards sth
- go under
- go up
- go up (to ... )
- go up (to ... ) (from ... )
- go with sb
- go with sth
- go without (sth)
■ noun ( pl. goes /gəʊz/)
1.
[ C ] ( BrE ) (also turn NAmE , BrE ) a person's turn to move or play in a game or an activity :
Whose go is it?
It's your go.
'How much is it to play?' 'It's 50p a go.'
Can I have a go on your new bike?
2.
[ C ] ( BrE ) (also try NAmE , BrE ) an attempt at doing sth :
It took three goes to get it right.
I doubt if he'll listen to advice from me, but I'll give it a go (= I'll try but I don't think I will succeed) .
3.
[ U ] ( BrE ) energy and enthusiasm :
Mary's always got plenty of go.
—see also get-up-and-go
4.
[ U ] a Japanese game played on a board
•
IDIOMS
- at one go
- be a go
- be all go
- be on the go
- first, second, etc. go
- have a go
- have a go (at sth / at doing sth)
- have a go at sb
- have sth on the go
- in one go
- make a go of sth
—more at leave verb , let verb
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English gān , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch gaan and German gehen ; the form went was originally the past tense of wend .