go off half-cocked
go off half-cocked verb: to take a premature or ill-considered action.
Verb
go off half-cocked (third-person singular simple present goes off half-cocked, present participle going off half-cocked, simple past went off half-cocked, past participle gone off half-cocked)
- To take a premature or ill-considered action.
- Make sure none of your men go off half-cocked and ruin this operation.
go off half-cocked meaning in Bengali
go off half-cocked in Bengali
- অপরিণত, অবিবেচনাপ্রসূত পদক্ষেপ নেওয়া
Forms of go off half-cocked
| third-person singular present | goes off half-cocked |
|---|---|
| present participle | going off half-cocked |
| past | went off half-cocked |
| past participle | gone off half-cocked |
| alternative form | go off halfcocked |
| alternative form | go off at halfcock |
| alternative form | go off at half cock |
Origin of go off half-cocked
Commonly believed to be from the days of flintlock and caplock firearms, where the half-cock position of the hammer was both a rudimentary safety and the proper position for priming the pan or inserting a percussion cap. The phrase was originally rendered as "to go off at half-cock." However, this expression comes from archery. The coloured feather on an arrow is called the cock feather. The arrow must be drawn back fully so the arrow will fly the furthest distance. Going off half cocked means the arrow will not achieve its full power and not reach its target.
Questions about go off half-cocked
- What does go off half-cocked mean?
- Go off half-cocked means to take a premature or ill-considered action.
- What is go off half-cocked in Bengali?
- Go off half-cocked in Bengali is অপরিণত, অবিবেচনাপ্রসূত পদক্ষেপ নেওয়া. See Go off half-cocked meaning in Bengali.
- What part of speech is go off half-cocked?
- Go off half-cocked is a verb.
- What is the past tense of go off half-cocked?
- The past tense of go off half-cocked is went off half-cocked.
Words near go off half-cocked in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: go off half-cocked (page history and authors); go off half-cocked (Bengali Wiktionary) (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-go off half-cocked.ogg.
Cite this entry: “go off half-cocked.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/go_off_half-cocked. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.