GO Go, v. i. [imp. Went; p. p. Gone; p. pr. & vb. n. Going. Went comes from the AS, wendan. See Wend, v. i.] Etym: [OE. gan, gon, AS. gan, akin to D. gaan, G. gehn, gehen, OHG. g, gan, SW. ga, Dan. gaae; cf. Gr. ha to go, AS. gangan, and E. gang. The past tense in AS., eode, is from the root i to go, as is also Goth. iddja went. sq. root47a. Cf. Gang, v. i., Wend.]
1. To pass from one place to another; to be in motion; to be in a state not motionless or at rest; to proced; to advance; to make progress; — used, in 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.
2. To move upon the feet, or step by step; to walk; also, to walk step by step, or leisurely.
Note: In old writers go is much used as opposed to run, or ride. "Whereso I go or ride." Chaucer. 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. He fell from running to going, and from going to clambering upon his hands and his knees. Bunyan.
Note: In Chaucer go is used frequently with the pronoun in the objective used reflexively; as, he goeth him home.
3. To be passed on fron 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 Sa. xvii. 12. [The money] should go according to its true value. Locke.
4. To proceed or happen in a given manner; to fare; to move on or be carried on; to have course; to come to an issue or result; to succeed; 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. I Watts.
5. To proceed or tend toward a result, consequence, or product; to tend; to conduce; to be an ingredient; to avail; to apply; to contribute; — often with the infinitive; as, this goes to show. Against right reason all your counsels go. Dryden. To master the foul flend there goeth some complement knowledge of theology. Sir W. Scott.
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. Sir P. Sidney.
Note: 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.