go
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English gon, goon, from Old English gān (“to go”), from Proto-Germanic *gāną (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave”). The inherited past tense form yode (compare Old English ēode) was replaced through suppletion in the 15th century by went, from Old English wendan (“to go, depart, wend”).
Cognate with Scots ga (“to go”), West Frisian gean (“to go”), Low German gahn (“to go”), Dutch gaan (“to go”), German gehen (“to go”), Swedish and Danish gå (“to go”), Norwegian gå (“to walk”). Compare also Albanian ngah (“to run, drive, go”), Ancient Greek κιχάνω (kikhánō, “to meet with, arrive at”), Avestan 𐬰𐬀𐬰𐬁𐬨𐬌 (zazāmi), Sanskrit जहाति (jáhāti)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: gō, IPA(key): /ɡəʊ/
- (General American) enPR: gō, IPA(key): /ɡoʊ/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ɡəʉ/
- (General New Zealand) IPA(key): /ɡɐʉ/
Audio - 'to go' (UK) (file) Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Hyphenation: go
- Rhymes: -əʊ
Verb
go (third-person singular simple present goes, present participle going, simple past went or (archaic) yode, past participle gone)
- To move:
- (intransitive) To move through space (especially to or through a place). (May be used of tangible things like people or cars, or intangible things like moods or information.) syn. ant. transl.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 6, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- 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.
- 2005, David Neilson, Standstill →ISBN, page 159:
- […] there was a general sense of panic going through the house; […]
- 2013, Mike Vouri, The Pig War: Standoff at Griffin Bay →ISBN, page 177
- Telegrams to London went by wire to Halifax, Nova Scotia, thence by steam mail packet to Liverpool, […]
- 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- I have to go now.
Audio (US) (file)
- I have to go now.
- Why don’t you go with us? 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!
-
- (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.
- 2002 September 18, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 107th Congress, second session; Senate, page 17033:
- (intransitive) To navigate (to a file or folder on a computer, a site on the internet, a memory, etc).
- 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.
- 2009, David J. Clark, The Unofficial Guide to Microsoft Office Word 2007 →ISBN, page 536:
- 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.
- 2003, Harrison E. Salisbury, The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad →ISBN, page 307:
- (intransitive) To move or travel in order to do something, or to do something while moving.
- We went swimming. Let's go shopping.
- (intransitive) To leave; to move away. syn. ant.
- Please don't go! I really must be going. Workmen were coming and going at all hours of the night.
- (obsolete, intransitive) To walk; to travel on one's feet. [11th-19th c.]
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XII:
- ‘As for that,’ seyde Sir Trystram, ‘I may chose othir to ryde othir to go.’
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, page 129:
- Master Piercie our new President, was so sicke hee could neither goe nor stand.
- 1684, John Bunyan, “Battle with Giant Slay-good”, in The Pilgrim's Progress, Part II Section 3:
- Other brunts I also look for; but this I have resolved on, to wit, to run when I can, to go when I cannot run, and to creep when I cannot go.
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XII:
- (intransitive) To move through space (especially to or through a place). (May be used of tangible things like people or cars, or intangible things like moods or information.) syn. ant. transl.
- (intransitive, chiefly of a machine) To work or function (properly); to move or perform (as required). syn. transl.
- The engine just won't go anymore.
- 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.
- (intransitive) To start; to begin (an action or process).
- Here goes nothing. Let's go and hunt.
- 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.
- (intransitive) To take a turn, especially in a game. syn. transl.
- It’s your turn; go.
- (intransitive) To attend.
- I go to school at the schoolhouse. She went to Yale. They only go to church on Christmas.
- To proceed:
- (intransitive) To proceed (often in a specified manner, indicating the perceived quality of an event or state).
- That went well. "How are things going?" "Not bad, thanks."
- Shakespeare:
- How goes the night, boy?
- Arbuthnot:
- I think, as the world goes, he was a good sort of man enough.
- I. Watts:
- Whether the cause goes for me or against me, you must pay me the reward.
- 1986, The Opera Quarterly, volume 4, issues 3-4, page 24:
- I certainly won't mention it to Ben, and will go carefully if he mentions it to me.
- (intransitive, colloquial, with another verb, sometimes linked by and) To proceed (especially to do something foolish).
- Why'd you have to go and do that?
- Why'd you have to go do that?
- He just went and punched the guy.
- 2011, Debra Glass, Scarlet Widow →ISBN, page 96:
- And even if she had believed the story about a John Smith, she might go telling everyone in town about what she'd seen.
- (intransitive) To proceed (often in a specified manner, indicating the perceived quality of an event or state).
- To follow or travel along (a path):
- To follow or proceed according to (a course or path).
- 1951?, Gunther Olesch et al., Siddhartha, translation of original by Hermann Hesse:
- I'm repeating it: I wish that you would go this path up to its end, that you shall find salvation!
- Let's go this way for a while.
- She was going that way anyway, so she offered to show him where it was.
-
- To travel or pass along.
- 2010, Luke Dixon, Khartoum →ISBN, page 60:
- A shady promenade went the length of the street and the entrance to the hotel was a few steps back in the darkness, away from the glaring sunshine.
- 2010, Luke Dixon, Khartoum →ISBN, page 60:
- To follow or proceed according to (a course or path).
- (intransitive) To extend (from one point in time or space to another).
- This property goes all the way to the state line.
- 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.
- (intransitive) To lead (to a place); to give access to.
- Does this road go to Fort Smith?
- 2013, Without Delusion→ISBN, page 191:
- “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.”
- (copula) To become. (The adjective that follows usually describes a negative state.) syn. transl.
- You'll go blind. I went crazy / went mad. After failing as a criminal, he decided to go straight.
- 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 assume the obligation or function of; to be, to serve as.
- 1912, The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, volume 36, page 17:
- There is scarcely a business man who is not occasionally asked to go bail for somebody.
- 2010, Jane Sanders, Youth Justice: Your Guide to Cops and Courts →ISBN:
- Most welfare workers are not allowed to go surety for clients.
- 1912, The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, volume 36, page 17:
- (intransitive) To continuously or habitually be in a state.
- I don't want my children to go hungry. We went barefoot in the summer.
- To come to (a certain condition or state).
- they went into debt, she goes to sleep around 10 o'clock, the local shop wants to go digital, and eventually go global
- (intransitive) To change (from one value to another) in the meaning of wend.
- The traffic light went straight from green to red.
- To turn out, to result; to come to (a certain result).
- How did your meeting with Smith go?
- 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.
- (intransitive) To tend (toward a result).
- Well, that goes to show you. These experiences go to make us stronger.
- 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.
- To pass, to be used up:
- (intransitive, of time) To elapse, to pass; to slip away. (Compare go by.)
- The time went slowly.
- 1850, Sketches of New England Character, in Holden's Dollar Magazine, volumes 5-6, page 731:
- But the days went and went, and she never came; and then I thought I would come here where you were.
- 2008, Sue Raymond, Hidden Secrets →ISBN, page 357:
- The rest of the morning went quickly and before Su knew it Jean was knocking on the door […]
- (intransitive) To end or disappear. (Compare go away.) syn. transl.
- After three days, my headache finally went.
- (intransitive) To be spent or used up.
- His money went on drink.
- 2011, Ross Macdonald, Black Money →ISBN, page 29:
- All I have is a sleeping bag right now. All my money goes to keep up the cars.
- (intransitive, of time) To elapse, to pass; to slip away. (Compare go by.)
- (intransitive) To die.
- Walter Scott:
- By Saint George, he's gone! / That spear wound hath our master sped.
- Walter Scott:
- (intransitive) To be discarded.
- This chair has got to go.
- (intransitive, cricket) To be lost or out:
- To break down or apart:
- (intransitive) To collapse or give way, to break apart. syn. transl.
- 1998, Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, →ISBN, page 157:
- I wonder if I hopped up and down, would the bridge go?
- 2011, Shaunti Feldhahn, The Lights of Tenth Street →ISBN:
- Sober-eyed commentators safe in their television studios interviewed engineers about the chances that the rest of the dam could go.
- 2012, Carolyn Keene, Mardi Gras Masquerade →ISBN, page 38:
- 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."
-
- (intransitive) To break down or decay.
- This meat is starting to go off. My mind is going. She's 83; her eyesight is starting to go.
- (intransitive) To collapse or give way, to break apart. syn. transl.
- (intransitive) To be sold.
- Everything must go. The car went for five thousand dollars.
- (intransitive) To be given, especially to be assigned or allotted.
- The property shall go to my wife. The award went to Steven Spielberg.
- 2007, David Bouchier, The Song of Suburbia: Scenes from Suburban Life →ISBN, page 19:
- If my money goes to education, I want a report card.
- (transitive, intransitive) To survive or get by; to last or persist for a stated length of time.
- 1983, Princeton Alumni Weekly, volume 84, page 48:
- 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?'
- How long can you go without water? We've gone without your help for a while now. I've gone ten days now without a cigarette. Can you two go twenty minutes without arguing?!
- 1983, Princeton Alumni Weekly, volume 84, page 48:
- (transitive, sports) To have a certain record.
- They've gone one for three in this series. The team is going five in a row.
- To be authoritative, accepted, or valid:
- (intransitive) To have (final) authority; to be authoritative.
- Whatever the boss says goes, do you understand?
- (intransitive) To be accepted.
- Anything goes around here.
- Bible, 1 Sa. xvii. 12:
- The man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.
- John Locke:
- [The money] should go according to its true value.
- (intransitive) To be valid.
- 2014, Shayna Lance King, If You'd Read This Book: You'd Be Employed By Now →ISBN, page 22
- [To job interviews, wear] muted colors. No pink or paisley (that goes for you too, guys!) […]
- 2014, Shayna Lance King, If You'd Read This Book: You'd Be Employed By Now →ISBN, page 22
- (intransitive) To have (final) authority; to be authoritative.
- To say (something), to make a sound:
- (transitive, slang) To say (something, aloud or to oneself). (Often used in present tense.)
- I go, "As if!" And she was all like, "Whatever!"
- As soon as I did it, I went "that was stupid."
- (transitive) To make the (specified) sound. transl.
- Cats go "meow". Motorcycles go "vroom".
- (intransitive) To sound; to make a noise.
- I woke up just before the clock went.
- (transitive, slang) To say (something, aloud or to oneself). (Often used in present tense.)
- To be expressed or composed (a certain way).
- The tune goes like this. As the story goes, he got the idea for the song while sitting in traffic.
- (intransitive) To resort (to).
- I'll go to court if I have to.
- To apply or subject oneself to:
- To apply oneself; to undertake; to have as one's goal or intention. (Compare be going to.)
- I'm going to join a sports team. I wish you'd go and get a job. He went to pick it up, but it rolled out of reach.
- He's going to leave town tomorrow.
- Philip Sidney:
- 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.
- (intransitive) To make an effort, to subject oneself (to something).
- You didn't have to go to such trouble. I never thought he'd go so far as to call you. She went to great expense to help them win.
- (intransitive) To work (through or over), especially mentally.
- I've gone over this a hundred times. Let's not go into that right now.
- To apply oneself; to undertake; to have as one's goal or intention. (Compare be going to.)
- To fit (in a place, or together with something):
- (intransitive, often followed by a preposition) To fit. syn. transl.
- Do you think the sofa will go through the door? The belt just barely went around his waist.
- (intransitive) To be compatible, especially of colors or food and drink.
- This shade of red doesn't go with the drapes. White wine goes better with fish than red wine.
- (intransitive) To belong (somewhere). syn. transl.
- My shirts go on this side of the wardrobe. This piece of the jigsaw goes on the other side.
- (intransitive, often followed by a preposition) To fit. syn. transl.
- (intransitive) To date. syn. transl.
- How long having they been going together? He's been going with her for two weeks.
- To attack:
- (intransitive) To fight or attack.
- 2002, Jayne Cobb, “Objects in Space”, in Firefly:
- You wanna go, little man?
- I went at him with a knife.
-
- (transitive, Australian slang) To attack.
- 2002, James Freud, I am the Voice Left from Drinking, unnumbered page:
- 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.
- 2005, Joy Dettman, One Sunday, page 297,
- 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.
- (intransitive) To fight or attack.
- To be in general; to be usually.
- As sentences go, this one is pretty boring.
- 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, […]
- (transitive) To take (a particular part or share); to participate in to the extent of.
- L'Estrange:
- They were to go equal shares in the booty.
- Let's go halves on this.
- L'Estrange:
- (transitive) To yield or weigh.
- Those babies go five tons apiece.
- (transitive, intransitive) To offer, bid or bet an amount; to pay.
- That's as high as I can go. We could go two fifty.
- I'll go a ten-spot. I'll go you a shilling.
- (transitive, colloquial) To enjoy. (Compare go for.)
- I could go a beer right about now.
- (intransitive, colloquial) To urinate or defecate. syn. transl.
- I really need to go. Have you managed to go today, Mrs. Miggins?
- 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.
Usage notes
- Some speakers use went for the past participle.
- 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 arms around, implying that the phrase means then he waves his arms).
- 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:
Conjugation
infinitive | go | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | going | ||||||||||
past participle | gone | ||||||||||
simple | progressive | perfect | perfect progressive | ||||||||
present | I go | we go | I am going | we are going | I have gone | we have gone | I have been going | we have been going | |||
you go | you go | you are going | you are going | you have gone | you have gone | you have been going | you have been going | ||||
he goes | they go | he is going | they are going | he has gone | they have gone | he has been going | they have been going | ||||
past | I went | we went | I was going | we were going | I had gone | we had gone | I had been going | we had been going | |||
you went | you went | you were going | you were going | you had gone | you had gone | you had been going | you had been going | ||||
he went | they went | he was going | they were going | he had gone | they had gone | he had been going | they had been going | ||||
future | I will go | we will go | I will be going | we will be going | I will have gone | we will have gone | I will have been going | we will have been going | |||
you will go | you will go | you will be going | you will be going | you will have gone | you will have gone | you will have been going | you will have been going | ||||
he will go | they will go | he will be going | they will be going | he will have gone | they will have gone | he will have been going | they will have been going | ||||
conditional | I would go | we would go | I would be going | we would be going | I would have gone | we would have gone | I would have been going | we would have been going | |||
you would go | you would go | you would be going | you would be going | you would have gone | you would have gone | you would have been going | you would have been going | ||||
he would go | they would go | he would be going | they would be going | he would have gone | they would have gone | he would have been going | they would have been going | ||||
imperative | go |
Quotations
- For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:go.
Synonyms
- (move def. ant. transl.): move, fare, tread, draw, drift, wend, cross
- (depart def. ant.): depart, leave, exit, go away, go out
- (function def. transl.): function, work, operate
- (take a turn def. transl.): move, make one's move, take one’s turn
- (become def. transl.): become, turn, change into
- (disappear def. ant. transl.): disappear, vanish, go away; end, dissipate
- (collapse def. transl.): crumble, collapse, disintegrate, give way
- (fit): def. transl. fit, pass, stretch, come, make it
- (belong in a place def. transl.): belong, have a place
- (date def. transl.): go out (with), date, see
- (urinate or defecate def. transl.): See Thesaurus:urinate and Thesaurus:defecate
Antonyms
Derived terms
- bego
- churchgoer
- forego
- forgo
- go about
- go after
- go against
- go-ahead
- go along
- go amiss
- go around
- go away
- go back
- go bad
- go begging
- go-between
- go bush
- go by
- go-cart
- go combo
- go down
- go down on
- go equipped
- go for
- go for the gold
- go great guns
- go in
- go in on
- go into
- go-kart
- go like the clappers
- go long
- good to go
- go off
- go off on
- go on
- go out
- go out with
- go play in the traffic
- go round
- go-slow
- go straight
- go the distance
- go through with
- go-to
- go to ground
- go to show
- go to waste
- go up
- go with
- go without
- have someone going
- ingo
- misgo
- on your mark, get set, go!
- outgo
- overgo
- pay-as-you-go
- ready, set, go!
- undergo
- wend
- withgo
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Noun
go (plural goes)
- (uncommon) The act of going.
- 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.
- 2009, Mark Raney, David Midgett →ISBN, page 68:
- They talk easily together and they hear the come and go of the breeze in the soon to be turning burnt leaves of the high trees.
- 1993, Francis J. Sheed, Theology and Sanity (→ISBN):
- A turn at something, or in something (e.g. a game).
- You’ve been on that pinball machine long enough—now let your brother have a go.
- It’s your go.
- An attempt, a try.
- I’ll give it a go.
- 2012, Alex Montgomery, Martin O'Neill: The Biography →ISBN, page 196:
- You have to stay and we will have a go at winning the championship next season."
- An approval or permission to do something, or that which has been approved.
- We will begin as soon as the boss says it's a go.
- Bret Harte
- "Well," said Fleming, "is it a go?"
- 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 ...
- 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,
- (slang, dated) A circumstance or occurrence; an incident.
- 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, 1868, The Works of Charles Dickens, Volume 2: Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, American Notes, page 306,
- “Well, this is a pretty go, is this here! An uncommon pretty go! […] .
- 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, 1868, The Works of Charles Dickens, Volume 2: Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, American Notes, page 306,
- (dated) The fashion or mode.
- quite the go
- (dated) Noisy merriment.
- a high go
- (slang, archaic) A glass of spirits; a quantity of spirits.
- 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.”
- 1836, Charles Dickens, Sketches by Boz:
- Power of going or doing; energy; vitality; perseverance.
- There is no go in him.
- (cribbage) The situation where a player cannot play a card which will not carry the aggregate count above thirty-one.
- A period of activity.
- ate it all in one go
- 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.
- (obsolete, British slang) A dandy; a fashionable person.
- 1881, Egan, Pierce, 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, Ross, Kate, 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.
-
Synonyms
- (turn at something): stint, turn; (turn in a game): move, turn
- (attempt): attempt, bash, shot, stab, try
- (approval): green light
- (the fashion): mode, style, trend
- (a quantity of spirits): gage, measure
- (power of doing): energy, flair, liveliness, perseverance, pizzazz, spirit, verve, vigour, vim, vitality, zest
- (dandy): See Thesaurus:dandy
Derived terms
Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Noun
go (uncountable)
- (board games) A strategic board game, originally from China, in which two players (black and white) attempt to control the largest area of the board with their counters.
Synonyms
- weiqi
Translations
|
|
Further reading
- go at OneLook Dictionary Search
- go in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Arigidi
References
- B. Oshodi, The HTS (High Tone Syllable) in Arigidi: An Introduction, in the Nordic Journal of African Studies 20(4): 263–275 (2011)
Czech
Esperanto
Finnish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡoː/, [ˈɡo̞ː]
- Hyphenation: go
Declension
Inflection of go (Kotus type 21/rosé, no gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative | go | got | |
genitive | gon | goiden goitten | |
partitive | gota | goita | |
illative | gohon | goihin | |
singular | plural | ||
nominative | go | got | |
accusative | nom. | go | got |
gen. | gon | ||
genitive | gon | goiden goitten | |
partitive | gota | goita | |
inessive | gossa | goissa | |
elative | gosta | goista | |
illative | gohon | goihin | |
adessive | golla | goilla | |
ablative | golta | goilta | |
allative | golle | goille | |
essive | gona | goina | |
translative | goksi | goiksi | |
instructive | — | goin | |
abessive | gotta | goitta | |
comitative | — | goineen |
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡo/
Synonyms
- jeu de go
Etymology 2
Variant forms.
Noun
go f (plural go or gos)
- kweng, girl
- 1998, Ol Kainry (lyrics), “Agrévolution”, in 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”- (please add an English translation of this quote)
-
Further reading
- “go” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈɡoː]
Declension
Inflection of go | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | go | gók |
accusative | gót | gókat |
dative | gónak | góknak |
instrumental | góval | gókkal |
causal-final | góért | gókért |
translative | góvá | gókká |
terminative | góig | gókig |
essive-formal | góként | gókként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | góban | gókban |
superessive | gón | gókon |
adessive | gónál | góknál |
illative | góba | gókba |
sublative | góra | gókra |
allative | góhoz | gókhoz |
elative | góból | gókból |
delative | góról | gókról |
ablative | gótól | góktól |
Possessive forms of go | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | góm | góim |
2nd person sing. | gód | góid |
3rd person sing. | gója | gói |
1st person plural | gónk | góink |
2nd person plural | gótok | góitok |
3rd person plural | gójuk | góik |
Derived terms
- gózik
- gotábla
Indonesian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡo/
- Hyphenation: go
Noun
go (plural go-go, first-person possessive goku, second-person possessive gomu, third-person possessive gonya)
- (board games) A strategic board game, originally from China, in which two players (black and white) attempt to control the largest area of the board with their counters.
Irish
Etymology
From Old Irish co, from Proto-Indo-European *kom (“next to, at, with, along”). Cognate with German ge- (“with”) (collective prefix) and gegen (“toward, against”), English gain-, Spanish con (“with”), Russian ко (ko, “to”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡɔ/, /ɡə/
Conjunction
go (triggers eclipsis, takes dependent form of irregular verbs)
- that (used to introduce a subordinate clause)
- Deir sé go bhfuil deifir air ― He says that he is in a hurry
- used to introduce a subjunctive hortative
- Go gcuidí Dia leo ― May God help them
- Go maire tú é ― May you live to enjoy it
- Go raibh maith agat ― Thank you (May you have good)
- until, till
- Fan go dtiocfaidh sé ― Wait until he comes
Synonyms
- (until): go dtí go
Related terms
Preposition
go (plus dative, triggers h-prothesis, before the definite article gos)
Usage notes
- In the meaning "to", used with place names that do not start with a definite article. Place names that do start with a definite article take the preposition go dtí instead.
Synonyms
Particle
go (triggers h-prothesis)
- used to make temporary state adverbs and predicative adjectives
- D’ith sé go maith ― He ate well
- Shiúlaíodar go mall ― They walked slowly
- go feargach ― angrily
- Táim go maith ― I am well(compare: Is maith mé I am good)
Italian
Middle English
Northern Sami
Pronunciation
- (Kautokeino) IPA(key): /ˈko/
Ojibwe
Particle
go
Pijin
Verb
go
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡɔ/
audio (file)
Pronoun
go m
- inflection of on:
- genitive singular mute
- accusative singular mute
- Widzisz go? ― Can you see him?
See also
- Appendix:Polish pronouns
Portuguese
Serbo-Croatian
Alternative forms
- (Croatia) gȏl
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *golъ, from Proto-Indo-European *galw- (“naked, bald”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡôːl/
Declension
singular | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | go | gola | golo | |
genitive | gola | gole | gola | |
dative | golu | goloj | golu | |
accusative | inanimate animate |
go gola |
golu | golo |
vocative | go | gola | golo | |
locative | golu | goloj | golu | |
instrumental | golim | golom | golim | |
plural | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
nominative | goli | gole | gola | |
genitive | golih | golih | golih | |
dative | golim(a) | golim(a) | golim(a) | |
accusative | gole | gole | gola | |
vocative | goli | gole | gola | |
locative | golim(a) | golim(a) | golim(a) | |
instrumental | golim(a) | golim(a) | golim(a) |
singular | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | goli | gola | golo | |
genitive | golog(a) | gole | golog(a) | |
dative | golom(u/e) | goloj | golom(u/e) | |
accusative | inanimate animate |
goli golog(a) |
golu | golo |
vocative | goli | gola | golo | |
locative | golom(e/u) | goloj | golom(e/u) | |
instrumental | golim | golom | golim | |
plural | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
nominative | goli | gole | gola | |
genitive | golih | golih | golih | |
dative | golim(a) | golim(a) | golim(a) | |
accusative | gole | gole | gola | |
vocative | goli | gole | gola | |
locative | golim(a) | golim(a) | golim(a) | |
instrumental | golim(a) | golim(a) | golim(a) |
Venetian
Vietnamese
Volapük
Westrobothnian
Etymology
From Old Norse góðr, from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz.
Pronunciation 1
- IPA(key): /ɡuː/
- Rhymes: -úː, -úːð, -úːr
Adjective
go (neuter gött or gått or gódt)
- excellent
- goɑftan
- good evening
- gomöran
- good morning
- (neuter, adverbially)
- he to gött
- The arrow or bullet found its way to its target.
- he pante gött
- It rebounded well.
- he to gött
- able
- ja var int go öm få sunt veaklabben
- I was not able to break the block of wood.
- ja var int go öm få sunt veaklabben
- tasty
- he smɑkase gött
- It tasted well.
- he går ɑllten gött å främmen
- Guests are always treated to a little extra.
- he smɑkase gött
- easily done
- friendly, honest
Pronunciation 2
- IPA(key): /²ɡuː/
- Rhymes: -ùː, -ùːð, -ùːr
References
- Larsson, Evert, Söderström, Sven, “god a. go:”, in Hössjömålet : ordbok över en sydvästerbottnisk dialekt [The Hössjö speech: dictionary of a southern Westrobothnian dialect] (in Swedish) →ISBN, page 74