Gō1, v. i.
v. i. [imp. WENT; p. p. GONE; p. pr. & vb. n. GOING. Went comes from the A-S. wendan, a different word.] [A-S. gangan, gân, D. gaan, Dan. gaa, Sw. gå, N. H. Ger. gehn, gehen, M. H. Ger. gên, gân, O. H. Ger. gên, gân, gangan. Cf. GANG, v. i.]
Sense 1. To pass from one place to another; to be in motion; to be in a state not motionless or at rest; to proceed; to advance; to make progress;—employed in the most various applications of the movement of both animate and inanimate beings, by whatever means, and also of the movements of the mind; also figuratively applied to every thing which is conceived to have being or life.
Sense 2. To move upon the feet, or step by step; to walk; also, to walk step by step, or leisurely, as distinguishing from running or hasting.
You know that love Will creep in service where it can not go. Shak.
Thou must run to him; for thou hast staid so long that going will scarce serve the turn. Shak.
Sense 3. To be passed on from one to another; to pass; to circulate; hence, with for, to have currency; to be taken, accepted, or regarded.
The man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. 1 Sam. xvii. 12.
The money which remains should go according to its true value. Locke.
Sense 4. To proceed or happen in a given manner; to fare; to be carried on; to have course; to come to an issue or result; to succeed; to eventuate; to turn out.
How goes the night, boy? Shak.
I think, as the world goes, he was a good sort of man enough. Arbuthnot.
Whether the cause goes for me or against me, you must pay me the reward. Watts.
Sense 5. To proceed or tend toward a result, consequence, or product; to tend; to conduce; to avail; to apply; to contribute;—often with to or into.
Against right reason all your counsels go. Dryden.
To master the foul fiend there goeth some competent knowledge of theology. W. Scott.
Sense 6. To apply one's self; to set one's self; to undertake.
Seeing himself confronted by so many, like a resolute orator, he went not to denial, but to justify his cruel falsehood. Sidney.
☞ Go, in this sense, is often used in the present participle with the auxiliary verb to be, before an infinitive, to express a future of intention, or to denote design; as, I was going to say; I am going to begin harvest.
Sense 7. To proceed by a mental operation; to pass in mind or by an act of the memory or imagination;—generally with over or through.
By going over all the particulars, you may receive some tolerable satisfaction about this great subject. South.
Sense 8. To be with young; to be pregnant; to gestate.
The fruit she goes with, I pray that it good time and life may find. Shak.
Sense 9. To move from the person speaking, or from the point whence the action is contemplated; to pass away; to leave; to depart;—in opposition to stay and come.
I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God; . . . only ye shall not go very far away. Ex. viii. 28.
Sense 10. To be lost or ruined; to perish; to decline; to decease; to die.
By Saint George, he's gone! That spear wound hath our master sped. W. Scott.
Sense 11. To reach; to extend; to lead; as, a line goes across the street; his land goes to the river; this road goes to New York.
His amorous expressions go no further than virtue may allow. Dryden.
☞ Go is used, in combination with many prepositions and adverbs, to denote motion of the kind indicated by the preposition or adverb, in which, and not in the verb, lies the principal force of the expression; as, to go against, to go in, to go out, to go on, to go aside, to go astray, and the like.
Go to, come, move, begin;—a phrase of exhortation, serious or scornful. [Obs.]—To go about. (a.) To set one's self about or at; to endeavor. “They never go about to hide or palliate their vices.” Swift. (b.) (Naut.) To tack; to turn the head of a ship.—To go between, to interpose between as mediator or as helper; to attempt to reconcile, or to adjust differences.—To go by, to pass away unnoticed; to omit.—To go down, to be swallowed or accepted; to be received without opposition. [Low.]—To go for nothing, to have no meaning or efficacy.—To go hard with, to occasion danger of a fatal issue to; to cause serious trouble or danger to.—To go in and out, to do the business of life.—To go in to or unto, to have sexual intercourse with. [Script.]—To go on. (a.) To proceed; to advance forward. (b.) To be put on, as a garment; as, the coat will not go on.—To go out. (a.) To become extinct, as light or life; to expire; as, a candle goes out; fire goes out. “And life itself goes out at thy displeasure.” Addison. (b.) To become public; as, this story goes out to the world.—To go over. (a.) To read; to peruse; to study. (b.) To examine; to view or review; as, to go over an account. “If we go over the laws of Christianity.” Tillotson. (c.) To think over; to proceed or pass in mental operation. (d.) To change sides; to pass from one party to another. (e.) To revolt. (f.) To pass from one side to the other, as of a river.—To go through. (a.) To execute; to accomplish; to perform thoroughly; to finish; as, to go through an operation. (b.) To suffer; to bear; to undergo; to sustain to the end; as, to go through a long sickness.—To go under. (a.) To be talked of or known, as by a title or name; as, to go under the name of Reformers. (b.) To be submerged; to sink; to be ruined.—To let go, to allow to depart; not to restrain or confine; to quit hold of; to release.