given

a given a fact that is taken for granted; a

fact that is assumed. That Mary will

go to college is a given. The question is

what she is going to study. It is a given

that the earth revolves around the sun.

given to doing something likely to do some-

thing; inclined to do something habitu-

ally. Mary is given to singing in the

shower. Bob is given to shouting when

things don’t go his way.

given to understand made to believe.

They were given to understand that there

would be no tax increase, but after the

election taxes went up. She was given

to understand that she had to be home by

midnight.

gloss something over to cover up or conceal

an error; to make something appear right

by minimizing or concealing the flaws.

When I asked him not to gloss the f laws

over, he got angry. T When Mr. Brown

was selling me the car, he tried to gloss over

its defects

glutton for punishment someone who

seems to like doing or seeking out diffi-

cult, unpleasant, or badly paid tasks. If

you want to work for this charity, you’ll

have to be a glutton for punishment and

work long hours for nothing. Jane must

be a real glutton for punishment. She’s typ-

ing Bill’s manuscript free of charge, and he

doesn’t even thank her.

gnash one’s teeth to slash about with the

teeth. Bill clenched his fists and gnashed

his teeth in anger. The wolf gnashed its

teeth and chased after the deer.

go about one’s business to mind one’s

business; to move elsewhere and mind

one’s own business. Leave me alone!

Just go about your business! I have no

more to say. I would be pleased if you

would go about your business.

go against the grain to go against the nat-

ural direction or inclination. (Refers to

the grain of wood. See also rub someone(‘s

fur) the wrong way.) You can’t expect

me to help you cheat. That goes against the

grain. Would it go against the grain for

you to call in sick for me?

go all out to use all one’s resources; to be

very thorough. (Informal. Compare this

with make an all-out effort.) Whenever

they have a party, they really go all out.

My cousin is coming for a visit, and she

expects us to go all out.

go all the way (with someone) and go to

bed (with someone) to have sexual inter-

course with someone. (Euphemistic. Use

with caution.) If you go all the way, you

stand a chance of getting pregnant. I’ve

heard that they go to bed all the time.

go along for the ride to accompany

(someone) for the pleasure of riding

along. Join us. You can go along for the

ride. I don’t really need to go to the gro-

cery store, but I’ll go along for the ride.

go a long way in doing something Go to go

a long way toward doing something.

go along (with someone or something) 1.

[with something] to agree to something.

(Also literal, meaning “to accompany

someone.”) All right. I’ll go along with

your plan. I’m sure that John won’t want

to go along with it. 2. [with someone] to

agree with someone. I go along with

Sally. I’m sure she’s right.  I can’t go

along with John. He doesn’t know what he’s

talking about.

go ape (over someone or something) to be-

come very excited and enthusiastic about

someone or something. (Slang.) I really

go ape over chocolate ice cream. Tom

really goes ape over Mary.

go (a)round the bend 1. to go around a

turn or a curve; to make a turn or a

curve. You’ll see the house you’re look-

ing for as you go round the bend. John

waved to his father until the car went

round the bend. 2. to go crazy; to lose

one’s mind. (Informal.) If I don’t get

some rest, I’ll go round the bend. Poor

Bob. He has been having trouble for a long

time. He finally went around the bend.

go around with someone Go to hang around

(with someone).

go astray to leave the proper path (literally

or figuratively). Stay right on the road.

Don’t go astray and get lost. Follow the

rules I’ve given you and don’t go astray.

That’ll keep you out of trouble.

go at it hammer and tongs Go to fight

someone or something hammer and tongs.

go at it tooth and nail Go to fight some-

one or something hammer and tongs.

go at someone or something to attack someone

or something; to move or lunge toward

someone or something. The dog went

at the visitor and almost bit him. He

went at the door and tried to break it

down.

go back on one’s word to break a promise

that one has made. I hate to go back on

my word, but I won’t pay you $100 after

all. Going back on your word makes you

a liar.

go bad to become rotten, undesirable, evil,

etc. I’m afraid that this milk has gone

bad. Life used to be wonderful. Now it

has gone bad.

go bananas to go crazy or become silly.

(Slang.) Whenever I see Sally, I just go

bananas! She’s fantastic. This was a hor-

rible day! I almost went bananas.

go begging to be unwanted or unused. (As

if an object were begging for an owner or

a user.) There is still food left. A whole

lobster is going begging. Please eat some

more. There are many excellent books in

the library just going begging because peo-

ple don’t know they are there.

go broke to completely run out of money

and other assets. This company is going

to go broke if you don’t stop spending

money foolishly. I made some bad in-

vestments last year, and it looks as if I may

go broke this year.

go by the board to get ruined or lost. (This

is a nautical expression meaning “to fall

or be washed overboard.”) I hate to see

good food go by the board. Please eat up

so we won’t have to throw it out. Your

plan has gone by the board. The entire pro-

ject has been canceled.

go by the book to follow the rules exactly.

(Refers to a book of rules.) The judge

of the contest went by the book and dis-

qualified us in the first round. Everyone

insisted that the chairman go by the book

and rule against the questionable motion.

go cold turkey to stop (doing something)

without tapering off. (Slang. Originally

drug slang. Now concerned with break-

ing any habit.) I had to stop smoking,

so I went cold turkey. It’s awful! When

heroin addicts go cold turkey, they get ter-

ribly sick.

go crazy to become crazy, disorientated, or

frustrated. It is so busy here that I think

I will go crazy. Bob went crazy because

his car got a f lat tire.

go down fighting to continue the strug-

gle until one is completely defeated. I

won’t give up easily. I’ll go down fighting.

Sally, who is very determined, went

down fighting.

go down in history to be remembered as

historically important. Bill is so great.

I’m sure that he’ll go down in history.

This is the greatest party of the century. I

bet it’ll go down in history.

go easy (on someone or something) 1. to be

kind or gentle with someone or some-

thing. (See also take it easy (on someone or

something).) Go easy on Tom. He just got

out of the hospital. Go easy on the cat.

It doesn’t like to be roughed up. Okay,

I’ll go easy. 2. [with something] to use

something sparingly. Go easy on the

mustard. That’s all there is. When you

make my sandwich, please go easy on the

onions. I don’t like them very well.

go fifty-fifty (on something) to divide the

cost of something in half with someone.

Todd and Jean decided to go fifty-fifty

on dinner. The two brothers went fifty-

fifty on a replacement for the broken lamp.

Go fly a kite! Go to Go climb a tree!

go for broke to risk everything; to try as

hard as possible. (Slang.) Okay, this is

my last chance. I’m going for broke.

Look at Mary starting to move in the fi-

nal hundred yards of the race! She is really

going for broke.

go for it to make a try for something; to de-

cide to do something. (Slang.) I have

an offer of a new job. I think I’m going to

go for it. Hey, great. Go for it!

go from bad to worse to progress from a

bad state to a worse state. This is a ter-

rible day. Things are going from bad to

worse. My cold is awful. It went from

bad to worse in just an hour.

Go fry an egg! Go to Go climb a tree!

go haywire to go wrong; to malfunction;

to break down. (Folksy.) I was talking

to Mary when suddenly the telephone went

haywire. I haven’t heard from her since.

There we were, driving along, when the

engine went haywire. It was two hours be-

fore the tow truck came.

go hog-wild to behave wildly. (Folksy.)

Have a good time at the party, but don’t go

hog-wild. The teacher cannot control a

class that is going hog-wild.

go in a body to move in a group.

whole team went in a body to talk to the

go in for something to take part in some-

thing; to enjoy (doing) something.

John doesn’t go in for sports. None of

them seems to go in for swimming.

go into action and swing into action to

start doing something. I usually get to

work at 7:45, and I go into action at 8:00.

When the ball is hit in my direction, you

should see me swing into action.

go into a tailspin 1. [for an airplane] to

lose control and spin to the earth, nose

The plane shook and then sud-

denly went into a tailspin. The pilot was

not able to bring the plane out of the tail-

spin, and it crashed into the sea. 2. [for

someone] to become disoriented or pan-

icked; [for someone’s life] to fall apart.

(Informal.) Although John was a great

success, his life went into a tailspin. It took

him a year to get straightened out. Af-

ter her father died, Mary’s world fell apart,

and she went into a tailspin.

go into detail to give all the details; to pre-

sent and discuss the details. The clerk

went into detail about the product with the

customer. I just want a simple answer.

Don’t go into detail.

go into effect and take effect [for a law

or a rule] to become effective; to start to

function. When does this new law go

into effect? The new tax laws won’t go

into effect until next year. This law takes

effect almost immediately.

go into hiding to conceal oneself in a hid-

den place for a period of time. The po-

litical dissident went into hiding. After

robbing the bank, the bandits went into

hiding for months.

go into one’s song and dance (about some-

thing) to start giving one’s explanations

and excuses about something. (One’s can

be replaced by the same old.)

don’t go into your song and dance about

how you always tried to do what was right.

John went into his song and dance about

how he won the war all by himself. He

always goes into the same old song and

dance every time he makes a mistake.

go into something to start something new.

(Especially a new career, project, prod-

uct line, etc. Compare this with be into

something.) I may quit selling and go into

management. We are shifting produc-

tion away from glass bottles, and we are

going into vases and other decorative con-

tainers. After she graduated, she went

into law.

go it alone to do something by oneself.

(Informal.) Do you need help, or will

you go it alone? I think I need a little

more experience before I go it alone.

Go jump in the lake! Go to Go climb a

go like clockwork to progress with regu-

larity and dependability. (Informal.)

The building project is progressing nicely.

Everything is going like clockwork. The

elaborate pageant was a great success. It

went like clockwork from start to finish.

go off [for something] to explode. The

fireworks didn’t go off when they were sup-

posed to. There was a bomb in the build-

ing, but it didn’t go off.

go off on a tangent to go off suddenly in

another direction; suddenly to change

one’s line of thought, course of action,

etc. (A reference to geometry.) Please

stick to one subject and don’t go off on a

tangent. If Mary would settle down and

deal with one subject she would be all

right, but she keeps going off on tangents.

go off the deep end and jump off the

deep end to become deeply involved

(with someone or something) before one

is ready; to follow one’s emotions into a

situation. (Informal. Refers to going into

a swimming pool at the deep end—rather

than the shallow end—and finding one-

self in deep water. Applies especially to

falling in love.) Look at the way Bill is

looking at Sally. I think he’s about to go off

the deep end. Now, John, I know you

really want to go to Australia, but don’t go

jumping off the deep end. It isn’t all per-

fect there.

go on stop saying those things; not so; I

don’t believe you. (Also literal, meaning

“to continue.” Always as a command.)

Go on! You don’t know what you’re talking

about! Oh, go on! You’re just trying to

f latter me.

go on a binge to do too much of some-

thing. (Slang. Especially to drink too

much.) Jane went on a binge last night

and is very sick this morning. Bill loves

to spend money on clothes. He’s out on a

binge right now—buying everything in

sight.

go on a fishing expedition to attempt to

discover information. (Also literal.)

We are going to have to go on a fishing ex-

pedition to try to find the facts. One

lawyer went on a fishing expedition in

court, and the other lawyer objected.

go on and on to (seem to) last or go for-

ever. (Folksy.) You talk too much, Bob.

You just go on and on. The road to their

house is very boring. It goes on and on with

nothing interesting to look at.

go on a rampage to have a rampage.

The angry bull went on a rampage and

broke the fence. My boss went on a ram-

page because the report wasn’t finished.

go on to a better land to die. (Euphe-

mistic.) After a long illness, Reggie went

on to a better land. When I finally go on

to a better land, I hope there is enough

money for a proper funeral.

go out (for something) to try out for some-

thing. (Usually refers to attempting to get

onto a sports team. Also literal.) Mary

went out for the soccer team. Tom went

out for baseball. He didn’t go out last

year.

go out of fashion and go out of style to

become unfashionable; to become obso-

lete. That kind of furniture went out of

style years ago. I hope this kind of thing

never goes out of fashion.

go out of one’s way (to do something) 1. to

travel an indirect route in order to do

something. I’ll have to go out of my way

to give you a ride home. I’ll give you a

ride even though I have to go out of my

way. 2. to make an effort to do some-

thing; to endure and accept the bother of

doing something. We went out of our

way to please the visitor. We appreciate

anything you can do, but don’t go out of

your way.

go out of style Go to go out of fashion.

go (out) on strike [for a group of people]

to quit working at their jobs until certain

demands are met. If we don’t have a

contract by noon tomorrow, we’ll go out on

go out (with someone) 1. to go out with

someone for entertainment. The

Smiths went out with the Franklins to a

movie. Those guys don’t have much time

to go out. 2. to go on a date with some-

one; to date someone regularly. Is Bob

still going out with Sally? No, they’ve

stopped going out.

go over to succeed; to be accepted. His

idea went over well. How did my joke go

over?

go over big with someone to be very much

appreciated by someone. Your jokes did

not exactly go over big with my parents.

We hope that the musical will go over

big with the audience.

go overboard to do too much; to be ex-

travagant. (Also literal as on a ship.)

Look, Sally, let’s have a nice party, but

don’t go overboard. It doesn’t need to be

fancy. Okay, you can buy a big com-

fortable car, but don’t go overboard.

go over like a lead balloon to fail; to go

over badly. (Slang. See also go over with

a bang.) Your joke went over like a lead

balloon. If that play was supposed to be

a comedy, it went over like a lead balloon.

Her suggestion went over like a lead

balloon.

go over someone’s head [for the intellectual

content of something] to be too difficult

for someone to understand. All that

talk about computers went over my head.

I hope my lecture didn’t go over the stu-

dents’ heads.

go over something to review or explain

something. (Also literal.) The teacher

went over the lesson. Will you please go

over this form? I don’t understand it.

go over something with a fine-tooth comb

and search something with a fine-tooth

comb to search through something very

carefully. I can’t find my calculus book.

I went over the whole place with a fine-

tooth comb. I searched this place with

a fine-tooth comb and didn’t find my ring.

go over with a bang to succeed spectac-

ularly. (Informal. Compare this with go

over like a lead balloon.) The play was

a success. It really went over with a bang.

That’s a great joke. It went over with a

bang.

go places to have a good future. (Infor-

mal.) Sally shows great promise as a

scholar. She’s really going to go places.

Tom is as good as we thought. He’s cer-

tainly going places now.

Go play in the traffic! Go to Take a long

walk off a short pier.

go right through someone [for food] to pass

through and out of the body very rapidly.

(Informal. Use with caution.) Those

little apples go right through me, but I love

them. I can’t eat onions. They go right

through me.

go scot-free and get off scot-free to go

unpunished; to be acquitted of a crime.

(This scot is an old word meaning “tax”

or “tax burden.”) The thief went scot-

free. Jane cheated on the test and got

caught, but she got off scot-free.

go sky-high to go very high, as with a price

or a measurement. (Informal.) Prices

go sky-high whenever there is inf lation.

Oh, it’s so hot. The temperature went sky-

high about noon.

go so far as to say something to put some-

thing into words; to risk saying some-

thing. I think that Bob is dishonest, but

I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s a thief.

Red meat may be harmful, but I can’t go

so far as to say it causes cancer.

go someone one better and do someone one

better to do something superior to what

someone else has done; to top someone.

That was a great joke, but I can go you

one better. Your last song was beauti-

fully sung, but Mary can do you one better.

go (somewhere) by shank’s mare to travel

by foot; to go somewhere on foot. The

car wouldn’t start so I had to go to work by

shank’s mare. We enjoy walking and go

by shank’s mare whenever we can.

go steady (with someone) to date someone

on a regular basis. Mary is going steady

with John. Bill went steady for two years

before he got married.

go stir-crazy to become anxious because

one is confined. (Slang. Stir is an old

criminal word for “prison.”) If I stay

around this house much longer, I’m going

to go stir-crazy. John left school. He said

he was going stir-crazy.

go straight to begin to obey the law; to be-

come law-abiding. (Also literal. Slang.

Primarily criminal slang.) When John

got out of prison, he decided to go straight.

I promised the teacher that I would go

straight and that I would never cheat

again.

go the distance to do the whole amount;

to play the entire game; to run the whole

race. (Informal. Originally sports use.)

That horse runs fast. I hope it can go the

distance. This is going to be a long, hard

project. I hope I can go the distance.

go the extra mile to try harder to please

someone or to get the task done cor-

rectly; to do more than one is required to

do to reach a goal. I like doing business

with that company. They always go the ex-

tra mile. My teacher goes the extra mile

to help us.

go the limit to do as much as possible.

(Compare this with go whole hog.)

What do I want on my hamburger? Go the

limit! Don’t hold anything back. Go the

limit.

go through to be approved; to succeed in

getting through the approval process.

(See also go through something.) I sent

the board of directors a proposal. I hope it

goes through. We all hope that the new

law goes through.

go through something 1. to examine some-

thing. Give me a day or two to go

through this contract, and then I’ll call you

with advice. Don’t go through it too fast.

Read it carefully, or you might miss some-

thing. 2. to experience something; to

endure something unpleasant; to get

through something. It was a terrible

thing. I don’t know how I went through it.

It’ll take four years to go through college.

go through the changes to experience a

rough period in one’s life. (Slang.)

Sally’s pretty upset. She’s really going

through the changes.  Most teenagers

spend their time going through the

changes.

go through the motions to make a feeble

effort to do something; to do something

insincerely. Jane isn’t doing her best.

She’s just going through the motions. Bill

was supposed to be raking the yard, but he

was just going through the motions.

go through the roof to go very high; to

reach a very high degree (of something).

(Informal.) It’s so hot! The temperature

is going through the roof. Mr. Brown got

so angry he almost went through the roof.

go through with something to decide to do

something; to finish something. We

decided to go through with the new high-

way. I can’t do it. I just can’t go through

with it.

go to any length to do whatever is neces-

sary. I’ll go to any length to secure this

contract. I want to get a college degree,

but I won’t go to any length to get one.

go to bat for someone to support or help

someone. (Informal. From baseball. See

pinch-hit (for someone).) I tried to go to

bat for Bill, but he said he didn’t want any

help. I heard them gossiping about Sally,

so I went to bat for her.

go to bed to go to where one’s bed is, get

into it, and go to sleep. It’s time for me

to go to bed. I want to go to bed, but

there is too much work to do.

go to bed (with someone) Go to go all the

way (with someone).

go to bed with the chickens to go to bed

at sundown; to go to bed very early

(when the chickens do). Of course I get

enough sleep. I go to bed with the chickens.

Mr. Brown goes to bed with the chick-

ens and gets up with them, too.

go to Davy Jones’s locker to go to the bot-

tom of the sea. (Thought of as a nauti-

cal expression.) My camera fell over-

board and went to Davy Jones’s locker.

My uncle was a sailor. He went to Davy

Jones’s locker during a terrible storm.

go together 1. [for two things] to look,

sound, or taste good together. Do you

think that this pink one and this purple one

go together? Milk and grapefruit don’t

go together. 2. [for two people] to date

each other regularly. Bob and Ann have

been going together for months. Tom

and Jane want to go together, but they live

too far apart.

go to (hell) and go to (the devil) to be-

come ruined; to go away and stop both-

ering (someone). (Informal. Use caution

with hell.) This old house is just going

to hell. It’s falling apart everywhere.

Leave me alone! Go to the devil! Oh, go

to, yourself!

go to hell in a handbasket to become to-

tally worthless; to go to (hell). (Informal.

Use caution with hell. Not used as a com-

mand.) The whole country is going to

hell in a handbasket.   Look at my

lawn—full of weeds. It’s going to hell in a

handbasket.

go too far to do more than is acceptable.

(Also literal.) I didn’t mind at first, but

now you’ve gone too far. If you go too

far, I’ll slap you.

go to pot and go to the dogs to go to

ruin; to deteriorate. (Informal.)

whole life seems to be going to pot. My

lawn is going to pot. I had better weed it.

The government is going to the dogs.

go to rack and ruin and go to wrack and

ruin to go to ruin. (The words rack and

wrack mean “wreckage” and are found

only in this expression.) That lovely old

house on the corner is going to go to rack

and ruin. My lawn is going to wrack and

ruin.

go to seed Go to run to seed.

go to someone’s head to make someone

conceited; to make someone overly

proud. You did a fine job, but don’t let

it go to your head. He let his success go

to his head, and soon he became a com-

plete failure.

go to the bathroom 1. to go into a rest

room, bathroom, or toilet. BILL:

Where is Bob? JANE: He went to the bath-

room.  John went to the bathroom to

brush his teeth. 2. to eliminate bodily

wastes through defecation and urination.

Mommy! The dog went to the bathroom

on the carpet! Billy’s in there going to

the bathroom. Don’t disturb him.

go to (the devil) Go to go to (hell).

go to the dogs Go to go to pot.

go to the expense (of doing something) to

pay the (large) cost of doing something.

I hate to have to go to the expense of

painting the house. It needs to be done,

so you’ll have to go to the expense.

go to the lavatory to go somewhere and

use a toilet. Bob requested to leave the

room to go to the lavatory. Please stop

the car. I have to go to the lavatory.

go to the limit to do as much as is possi-

ble to do. (Compare this with go the

limit.) Okay, we can’t afford it, but we’ll

go to the limit. How far shall I go? Shall

I go to the limit?

go to the trouble (of doing something) and

go to the trouble (to do something) to en-

dure the bother of doing something. I

really don’t want to go to the trouble to

cook. Should I go to the trouble of cook-

ing something for her to eat? Don’t go

to the trouble. She can eat a sandwich.

go to the trouble (to do something) Go to

go to the trouble (of doing something).

go to the wall to be defeated; to fail in

business. (Informal.) We really went to

the wall on that deal.  The company

went to the wall because of that contract.

Now it’s broke.

go to town to work hard or fast. (Also lit-

eral. Informal.) Look at all those ants

working. They are really going to town.

Come on, you guys. Let’s go to town. We

have to finish this job before noon.

go to waste to be wasted; to be unused

(and therefore thrown away). Eat your

potatoes! Don’t let them go to waste. We

shouldn’t let all those nice f lowers go to

waste. Let’s pick some.

go to wrack and ruin Go to go to rack and

ruin.

go under to fail. The company was weak

from the start, and it finally went under.

Tom had a lot of trouble in school, and

finally he went under.

go under the knife to have a surgical op-

eration. (Informal.) Mary didn’t want

to go under the knife, but the doctor in-

sisted. If I go under the knife, I want to

be completely asleep.

go up in flames and go up in smoke to

burn up. The whole museum went up

in f lames.  My paintings—my whole

life’s work—went up in f lames. What a

shame for all that to go up in smoke.

go up in smoke Go to go up in flames.

go window-shopping to go about look-

ing at goods in store windows without ac-

tually buying anything. The clerks usu-

ally go window-shopping in their lunch

hour, looking for things to buy when they

get paid. Joan said she was just going

window-shopping, but she bought a new

coat.

go without (something) to manage to get

along without something. (Compare this

with do without (someone or something).)

I went without food for three days. Some

people have to go without a lot longer than

that.

go with something 1. to go well with some-

thing. Milk doesn’t go with grapefruit.

Pink doesn’t go with orange. 2. to

choose something (over something else).

(Informal.) I think I’ll go with the yel-

low one. We decided to go with the oak

table rather than the walnut one.

go with the flow [for someone] to pro-

ceed easily and cooperatively in the same

manner that other people or processes

are moving. (Informal.) John is very

easy to get along with. He just goes with

the f low. I try to cooperate. I go with the

f low where possible.

go wrong to fail; [for something bad] to

happen. The project failed. I don’t know

what went wrong. I’m afraid that every-

thing will go wrong.