go for the gold
UK/ˌɡəʊ fə‿ðə ˈɡəʊld/US/ˌɡoʊ fəɹ‿ðə ˈɡoʊld/
go for the gold verb: to attempt to achieve the maximum result or reward in an endeavour.
Verb
go for the gold (third-person singular simple present goes for the gold, present participle going for the gold, simple past went for the gold, past participle gone for the gold)
- To attempt to achieve the maximum result or reward in an endeavour.
- At next year's Senior Olympic event, [Sam] Griffith plans on adding the 100-meter low hurdle, discus, and the 220-meter run, in addition to the events he entered this year. "Sam, go for it," as General [Albert] Stubblebine once said, becomes a motto for him. With that thought in mind, Griffith goes...1984 November, “Griffith Goes for the Gold”, in Phoebe Russo, editor, INSCOM Journal, volume 7, number 11, Arlington, Va.: U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 3
- For the first three-quarters of the essay, [Jesse] Owens introduced the leading American athletes who would be going for gold. Then he turned to "an unhappier aspect of the games this year": the specter of black athletes using the Olympics as a forum of protest against America's treatment of its...1986, William J. Baker, “An Athlete Growing Old”, in Jesse Owens: An American Life, New York, N.Y.: The Free Press; London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, →ISBN, page 210
- Synonyms:
- go for the gold ring
Examples of go for the gold in a sentence
- Deciding to go for the gold, he leaned close to Luke's ear and whispered, "Can you tell Mama I should have a dog?1992, Nora Roberts, Honest Illusions, New York, N.Y.: Jove Books, published August 1993, →ISBN, page 439:
- The 132-room Gaia Napa Valley Hotel wants to go for the gold, making it the highest-rated hotel in the state and the nation.2007 January 3, “Eco-friendly Napa Valley hotel caters to conscientious travelers”, in USA Today, McLean, Va.: Gannett Co., →ISSN, →OCLC...
Synonyms of go for the gold
Forms of go for the gold
| third-person singular present | goes for the gold |
|---|---|
| present participle | going for the gold |
| past | went for the gold |
| past participle | gone for the gold |
| alternative form | go for gold |
Origin of go for the gold
An allusion to the gold medal, the highest prize in many major competitive events, especially in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Words that rhyme with go for the gold
Questions about go for the gold
- What does go for the gold mean?
- Go for the gold means to attempt to achieve the maximum result or reward in an endeavour.
- How do you use go for the gold in a sentence?
- Deciding to go for the gold, he leaned close to Luke's ear and whispered, "Can you tell Mama I should have a dog?
- What part of speech is go for the gold?
- Go for the gold is a verb.
- How do you pronounce go for the gold?
- Go for the gold is pronounced /ˌɡəʊ fə‿ðə ˈɡəʊld/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of go for the gold?
- The past tense of go for the gold is went for the gold.
Words near go for the gold in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: go for the gold (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-go for the gold.ogg.
Cite this entry: “go for the gold.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/go_for_the_gold. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.