go on
Britishverb
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to continue or proceed
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to happen or take place
there's something peculiar going on here
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(of power, water supply, etc) to start running or functioning
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(preposition) to mount or board and ride on, esp as a treat
children love to go on donkeys at the seaside
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theatre to make an entrance on stage
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to act or behave
he goes on as though he's rich
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to talk excessively; chatter
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to continue talking, esp after a short pause
``When I am Prime Minister,'' he went on, ``we shall abolish taxes.''
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(foll by at) to criticize or nag
stop going on at me all the time!
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(preposition) to use as a basis for further thought or action
the police had no evidence at all to go on in the murder case
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(foll by for) to approach (a time, age, amount, etc)
he's going on for his hundredth birthday
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cricket to start to bowl
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to take one's turn
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(of clothes) to be capable of being put on
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(used with a negative) to care for; like
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something that is adequate for the present time
interjection
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Happen, take place, as in What's going on here? [Early 1700s]
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Continue, as in The show must go on . [Late 1500s]
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Keep on doing; also, proceed, as in He went on talking , or She may go on to become a partner . [Second half of 1600s]
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Act, behave, especially badly. For example, Don't go on like that; stop kicking the dog . [Second half of 1700s]
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Also, go on and on ; run on . Talk volubly, chatter, especially tiresomely. For example, How she does go on! The first usage dates from the mid-1800s; run on appeared in Nicholas Udall's Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1553): “Yet your tongue can run on.“
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An interjection expressing disbelief, surprise, or the like, as in Go on, you must be joking! [Late 1800s]
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Approach; see going on .
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Use as a starting point or as evidence, as in The investigator doesn't have much to go on in this case . [Mid-1900s]
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go on something . Begin something, as in go on line , meaning “start to use a computer,” or go on a binge , meaning “begin to overdo, especially drink or eat too much.”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“There’s chants going on. You don’t usually hear that too much in the World Series games. That’s amazing. So much fun.”
From Los Angeles Times
Tickets go on sale online starting March 20 for $20, or you can buy them for $25 on the day of the event at West Santa Clara and North Westwood avenues in Santa Ana.
From Los Angeles Times
“I never went to things to just take photos. I happened to be places. I was usually part of whatever was going on.”
From Los Angeles Times
I have to respect that at some level I can’t know them — I only have the information I have to go on.
From Los Angeles Times
Like COVID, unless you were there, it’s hard to believe the things that went on, but if you’re skeptical about what old grandsire tells you about the Great Gas Wars of the 1970s, believe him.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
