head off

verb

headed off; heading off; heads off

transitive verb

: to turn back or turn aside : block, prevent

head them off at the pass

attempts to head off the imminent crisis

intransitive verb

: to go to another place

See you later—I'm heading off to work.

Synonyms of head off

• prevent
• avert

Examples of head off in a Sentence

if we act quickly, we may still be able to head off disaster

Recent Examples on the Web

The video shows a Jeep Grand Cherokee repeatedly backing up into the front door of the restaurant before its driver eventually heads off. — CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026

Unionized staff at the Whitney Museum in New York ratified its second contract Sunday night, hours ahead a strike deadline, narrowly heading off a disruption to the opening of a forthcoming Roy Lichtenstein retrospective. — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 5 Oct. 2026

Earlier this year, Newsom called for local elections clerks to count ballots faster to head off misinformation ahead of the June 2 primary. — Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026

As Central America faces the possibility of severe drought, food insecurity, and high costs for fuel and fertilizer, regional governments will likely have to suspend fuel taxes (and forgo substantial revenues) to head off protests. — Dan Restrepo, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for head off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff