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.
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