head off

English

Verb

head off (third-person singular simple present heads off, present participle heading off, simple past and past participle headed off)

1. (intransitive) To begin moving away.

   We will head off on our holidays tomorrow.

2. (transitive) To intercept.

   The cavalry will head off the bandits at the pass.

   Synonym: cut off

3. (transitive) To avoid the undesirable consequences of; prevent.

   The government took steps to head off summertime shortages of gasoline.

4. (nautical) To turn away from the wind.

Related terms

• off-heading

Translations

to begin moving away

• Finnish: lähteä (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: echarse a andar

to intercept

• Finnish: torjua (fi), pysäyttää (fi), katkaista tie
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

to avoid the undesirable consequence of

• Finnish: välttää (fi), estää (fi), torjua (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}