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go (third-person singular simple presentgoes, present participlegoing, simple pastwentor(obsolete)yode, past participlegoneor(nonstandard)wentor(substituted in certain contexts)been)
To move, either physically or in an abstract sense:
(intransitive) To 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.)
She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.
This train goes through Cincinnati on its way to Chicago.
Chris, where are you going?
There's no public transit where I'm going.
Wow, look at him go!
The rumour went all around town.
(intransitive) To 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.)
2002 September 18, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 107th Congress, second session; Senate, page 17033:
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.
2010, Charlotte Sadler, Time for One More Dance, →ISBN, page 162:
"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."
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.
Fans want to see the Twelfth Doctor go to the 51st century to visit River in the library.
(intransitive) To 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
2009, David J. Clark, The Unofficial Guide to Microsoft Office Word 2007, →ISBN, page 536:
To access Office-related TechNet resources, go to www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/office.
2009, Lisa W. Coyne, Amy R. Murrell, The Joy of Parenting, →ISBN:
Go to your earliest memory and to your favorite one, then to one that's difficult to consider.
2012, Glen E. Clarke, Edward Tetz, CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One For Dummies, →ISBN, page 280:
Go to drive C: through My Computer (or Computer in Windows 7 and Vista) and double-click the c:\data folder.
To move (a particular distance, or in a particular fashion).
2003, Harrison E. Salisbury, The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad, →ISBN, page 307:
The car went a short distance, then halted. There was something wrong with the carburetor.
We've only gone twenty miles today.
This car can go circles around that one.
The fight went the distance and was decided on points.
(intransitive) To move or travel in order to do something, or to do something while moving.
Don't put your hand inside while the motor's going!
1997, New Scientist, volume 154, page 105:
'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.
2008, Michael Buckley, Shangri-La: A Practical Guide to the Himalayan Dream, →ISBN, page 146:
[…] though his publisher swears black and blue that Kelder is still going strong and still remains an intensely private person.
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.
2001 June 18, a prophecy, quoted in Mary and the Unity of the Church→ISBN, page 49:
Be listening for my voice. Go when you hear my voice say go.
1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations:
I think, as the world goes, he was a good sort of man enough.
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:
Whether the cause goes for me or against me, you must pay me the reward.
1986, The Opera Quarterly, volume 4, numbers 3-4, page 24:
I certainly won't mention it to Ben, and will go carefully if he mentions it to me.
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:
I think those figures start from 1932 and go to 1941, inclusive, […]
2007, Math for All: Differentiating instruction, grades K-2, →ISBN, page 38:
Even though they can give a basic fact such as 4×4, I don't know that this knowledge goes very deep for them.
“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.”
To become, move to or come to (a state, position, situation)
(copulative) To become. (The adjective that follows often, but not always, describes a negative state.)
After failing as a criminal, he decided to go straight.
The video clip went viral.
Don't tell my Mum: she'll go ballistic.
The local shop wants to go digital, and eventually go global.
2001, Saverio Giovacchini, Hollywood Modernism: Film and Politics, →ISBN, page 18:
Referring to the American radicals who went Hollywood in the 1930s, Abraham Polonsky argues that "you can't possibly explain the Hollywood communists away […]"
To move to (a position or state).
If we can win on Saturday, we'll go top of the league.
2014, Tim Harris, Politics Under the Later Stuarts, →ISBN, page 195:
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.
To contribute to a (specified) end product or result.
qualities that go to make a lady / lip-reader / sharpshooter
1839, A Challenge to Phrenologists; Or, Phrenology Tested, page 155:
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.
1907, Patrick Doyle, Indian Engineering, volume 41, page 181:
The avoirdupois pound is one of 7,000 grains, and go to the pound.
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.
1997, John Wheatcroft, The Education of Malcolm Palmer, →ISBN, page 85:
"Your father's gone." "Okay, okay, the Gaffer's kicked off. What happened?"
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."
Against the Big Green, Princeton went the entire first and third quarters without gaining a first down, […]
2011 June 4, Phil McNulty, “England 2-2 Switzerland”, in BBC:
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, H. R. F. Keating, Zen there was Murder→ISBN:
'Surely one cannot go for long in this world to-day without at least a thought for St Simon Stylites?'
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:
The money which remains should go according to its true value.
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.
Seeing himself confronted by so many, like a resolute orator, he went not to denial, but to justify his cruel falsehood.
1990, Celestine Sibley, Tokens of myself, →ISBN, page 73:
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.
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 […]
2010 November 9, Greg Fitzsimmons, Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 166:
I felt that was an insult to John Lennon, but I married her anyway. Thinking back, I should have gone Asian.
2010, Marty Nazzaro, The City of Presidents, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 131:
“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, […]
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:
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, […]
2012 March 1, Sylvia Lett, All Night Lover, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 182:
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?
2017 May 16, Judith A. Yates, "She Is Evil!": Madness and Murder in Memphis, WildBlue Press, →ISBN, →OCLC:
“She went black,” he remembers. “She only started dating black guys. Or foreigners.”
2018 November 27, M.J. Kane, A Heart Not Easily Broken (Butterfly Memoirs), Written Musings, →ISBN:
“Your twin is dating a white man,” Lashana interjected. […] “[…]Now, let me get this straight, Eb, you've gone white?”
2022 January 4, Radhika Sanghani, 30 Things I Love About Myself, Penguin, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC:
She's hot. Hey, how are your parents about it all? I mean, you're breaking two taboos there—you're dating women, and you've gone white.
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.
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.
(in phrases with 'as')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.
As far as burgers go, this is one of the best.
1975, Private Eye, numbers 340-366, page 9:
Booster is not a loud trumpeter as elephants go.
1982, Fernand Braudel, On History, →ISBN, page 40:
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, […]
1991, Katherine Paterson, Lyddie:
She was, as girls go, scrawny and muscular, yet her boyish frame had in the last year betrayed her.
(transitive) To take (a particular part or share); to participate in to the extent of.
1996, Jonathan Goodman, The Last Sentence, Chivers North America, →ISBN:
'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?[…]'
2006, Kevin Blue, Practical Justice: Living Off-Center in a Self-Centered World, →ISBN, page 54:
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.
Along with do, make, and to a lesser extent other English verbs, go is often used as a substitute for a verb that was used previously or that is implied, in the same way a pronoun substitutes for a noun. For example:
Chris: Then he goes like this: (Chris then waves his arms around, implying that the phrase means then he waves his arms).
Some speakers use went for the past participle, especially in informal contexts, though this is considered nonstandard and is proscribed.
Like other English verbs, the verb go once had an alternative present participle formed with the suffix -and, i.e. goand. Goand is now obsolete, having been replaced by going, except in a few rural dialects in Scotland and Northern England, where it is considered archaic. Even in such dialects, it is never used to form the continuous tenses. These examples are from the Highlands:
Goandsnellathwart the houf, hoo hent 'im be the swyr. ― Going swiftly across the churchyard, she grabbed him by the neck.
Goand oot of the holt, she saw a woundor baist. ― Going out of the woods, she saw a magical creature.
In certain contexts, been is idiomatically substituted for gone as the past participle. For example, one might go to London but later say that one has been to London.
Belarusian: (abstract, on foot)хадзі́цьimpf(xadzícʹ), пахадзі́цьpf(paxadzícʹ), (concrete, on foot)ісці́impf(iscí), пайсці́pf(pajscí), (abstract, by transport)е́здзіць(jézdzicʹ), пае́здзіцьpf(pajézdzicʹ), (concrete, by transport)е́хацьimpf(jéxacʹ), пае́хацьpf(pajéxacʹ)
Lower Sorbian: (abstract, on foot)chójźiśimpf, (concrete, on foot)hyśimpf, (abstract, by vehicle)jězdźiśimpf, (concrete, by vehicle)jěśimpf; se póraśimpf
Upper Sorbian: (abstract, on foot)chodźićimpf, (concrete, on foot)hićimpf, (abstract, by vehicle)jězdźićimpf, (concrete, by vehicle)jěćpf
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
1993, Francis J. Sheed, Theology and Sanity, →ISBN:
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.
1995, William Noel, The Harley Psalter, →ISBN, page 65:
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.
A time; an experience.
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:
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[…]"
2013 July 2, Addison Fox, From This Moment On: An Alaskan Nights Novella (A Penguin Special from Signet Eclipse), Penguin, →ISBN:
"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."
2015 May 26, Dr. Kevin Leman, Jeff Nesbit, A Perfect Ambition (The Worthington Destiny Book 1): A Novel, Revell, →ISBN:
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. . .
(slang,dated) A circumstance or occurrence; an incident, often unexpected.
“Well, this is a pretty go, is this here! An uncommon pretty go!
1869, Punch, volume 57, page 257:
“Ain't this a rum go? This is a queer sort of dodge for lighting the streets.”
1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby:
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!
"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."
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):
“It’s a rum go and no mistake.”
An approval or permission to do something, or that which has been approved.
"Well, Tom, is it a go? You can trust me, for you'll have the thousand in your pocket before you start.[…]"
2009, Craig Nelson, Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon, →ISBN:
And as soon as we gave them the go to continue, we lost communication.
An 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
1820, Thomas Moore, W. Simpkin, R. Marshall, Jack Randall's Diary of Proceedings at the House of Call for Genius:
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.'
1836, Charles Dickens, Sketches by Boz:
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,
1868 March, In a City Bus, in the Eclectic Magazine, new series volume VII, number 3:
“Then, if you value it so highly,” I said, “you can hardly object to stand half a go of brandy for its recovery.”
(cribbage) The situation where a player cannot play a card which will not carry the aggregate count above thirty-one.
(obsolete, British slang) A dandy; a fashionable person.
1881, Pierce Egan, chapter VII, in Tom and Jerry, page 136:
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.
2012, Kate Ross, A Broken Vessel:
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.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
(postpositive, chiefly military and space flight) Working correctly and ready to commence operation; approved and able to be put into action.
1962, United States. Congress, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the Congress, page 2754:
John Glenn reports all systems are go.
1964, Instruments and Control Systems:
"Life support system is go," said the earphone.
2011, Matthew Stover, Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor: Star Wars Legends, Del Rey, →ISBN:
“Green One has four starts and is go.”
2016, Tim Brewster, Stuck: It's About to Get Very Weird, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 118:
“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.
(board games) A strategicboard 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.
1998, “Agrévolution”, in Ol Kainry (lyrics), Ce n’est que l’début, performed by Agression Verbale:
Georgetown pète le champagne, y’a du son, y’a des go et le sunshine Tu vois y’a pas de fringues, en caleçon et débardeurs Avec une bande de démarreurs, des go qui me disent “t’es speed comme Schumacher”
go (first-person possessivegoku, second-person possessivegomu, third-person possessivegonya)
(board games) A strategicboard game, originally from China, in which two players (black and white) attempt to control the largest area of the board with their counters.
go leor ― enough, plenty, galore (literally, “until plenty”)
go fóill ― still, yet, till later, in a while, later on
Usage notes
In the meaning "to", used with place names that do not start with the definite article. Place names that do start with the definite article use go dtí instead. In a few fixed phrases, the archaic form gos is used.
Tá an t-anraith seo go maith. ― This soup is good.
Bhí a mac go hálainn. ― Her son was beautiful.
Ní raibh an film go huafásach. ― The film wasn't awful.
Usage notes
Only used with predicate adjectives expressing a value judgment like "good/bad", "beautiful/ugly" etc. Other predicate adjectives do not take a particle:
Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages, Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland
Potanin, G.N. (1893) “go”, in Тангутско-Тибетская окраина Китая и Центральная Монголия (in Russian)
Kakuk, S. (1962). “Un Vocabulaire Salar.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 14, no. 2: 173–96.
Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “go”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow, pages 385, 463
林莲云 [Lin Lianyun] (1985) “go”, in 撒拉语简志 [A Brief History of Salar], Beijing: 民族出版社: 琴書店, →OCLC, page 113
Yakup, Abdurishid (2002) “go”, in An Ili Salar Vocabulary: Introduction and a Provisional Salar-English Lexicon, Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBN, page 107
马伟 (Ma Wei), 朝克 (Chao Ke) (2016) “go”, in 濒危语言——撒拉语研究 [Endangered Languages - Salar Language Studies], 青海 (Qinghai): 国家社会科学基金项目 (National Social Science Foundation Project), page 274
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic
1920, François Chaize , “Phần II. Hạng vật có xương sống (Vertébrés)”, in Địa cầu vạn vật luận - Động vật (Histoire naturelle - zoologie):
4° Lớp ếch nhái ( Batraciens ) Có máu lạnh; lái tim có 3 ngăn; vật ấy hoá hình, lúc bé có go để thở dưới nước rồi thay go lấy phổi để thở trong khí giời; có da trơn trụi lông; thường có 4 chân; hầu hết đẻ trứng.
4° Amphibians ( Batraciens ) are ectothermic; they have three-chambered hearts and undergo metamorphosis, as when they are juvenile, they have gills to breathe underwater but lose their gills for lungs in order to breathe air; their skin is smooth and furless; they are often quadruped; most are oviparous.
1920, Nguyễn Can Mộng, “Bài 50”, in Nam học Hán văn khoá bản:
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “go”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 100:
Go gaame abuth Forth, thou unket saalvache.
Go, make game about Forth, thou uncouth sloven.
References
Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867