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View synonyms for

go on

verb

  1. to continue or proceed

  2. to happen or take place

    there's something peculiar going on here

  3. (of power, water supply, etc) to start running or functioning

  4. (preposition) to mount or board and ride on, esp as a treat

    children love to go on donkeys at the seaside

  5. theatre to make an entrance on stage

  6. to act or behave

    he goes on as though he's rich

  7. to talk excessively; chatter

  8. to continue talking, esp after a short pause

    ``When I am Prime Minister,'' he went on, ``we shall abolish taxes.''

  9. (foll by at) to criticize or nag

    stop going on at me all the time!

  10. (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

  11. (foll by for) to approach (a time, age, amount, etc)

    he's going on for his hundredth birthday

  12. cricket to start to bowl

  13. to take one's turn

  14. (of clothes) to be capable of being put on

  15. (used with a negative) to care for; like

  16. something that is adequate for the present time

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


interjection

  1. I don't believe what you're saying

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Idioms and Phrases

Happen, take place, as in 's going on here? [Early 1700s]

Continue, as in The show must go on . [Late 1500s]

Keep on doing; also, proceed, as in He went on talking , or She may go on to become a partner . [Second half of 1600s]

Act, behave, especially badly. For example, Don't go on like that; stop kicking the dog . [Second half of 1700s]

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.“

An interjection expressing disbelief, surprise, or the like, as in Go on, you must be joking! [Late 1800s]

Approach; see going on .

Use as a starting point or as evidence, as in The investigator doesn't have much to go on in this case . [Mid-1900s]

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.”

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

And as this act goes on, he opts for a trite missive about being with the one you love at the end of the world.

From

Ms Oliver said the inquiry was "an important step on the journey to change" and that Baroness Casey's report would "lift the lid on what has been going on".

From

On June 9, Bass called the very presence of ICE agents in the city a provocation: “If immigration raids had not happened here, we would not have the disorder that went on.”

From

By the time Josefina and her husband sat down to talk, the immigration raids had been going on for days, and protests over the federal actions had turned violent in parts of downtown Los Angeles.

From

Then he continued, “I just want her to be a good mom later on. And whatever I gave for her, to give to her kids. And that way, the chain could go on and on.”

From

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goongo on and on