Word.ws English Dictionary

go out on a limb

go out on a limb verb: to take a risk.

Verb

go out on a limb (third-person singular simple present goes out on a limb, present participle going out on a limb, simple past went out on a limb, past participle gone out on a limb)

  1. To take a risk.
    • He doesn't want to go out on a limb, but he really should give it a try.
    • Consenting Adult is probably worth watching, if only because it's not every day a TV movie is made about gay people. But don't expect too much. As long as groups like the Moral Majority have power, I doubt TV will be going out on much of a limb for us.1985 February 9, Sally Jordan, “Consenting Adult (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 29, page 15
  2. To hazard a guess.
    • I’m going to go out on a limb here. You’re together?
    • We all see the way you stare at Kessia. From the way you two talk, it sounds like you knew each other on Kadara. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you came here for her.2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Just go for it

Forms of go out on a limb

third-person singular presentgoes out on a limb
present participlegoing out on a limb
pastwent out on a limb
past participlegone out on a limb

Questions about go out on a limb

What does go out on a limb mean?
Go out on a limb means to take a risk.
What part of speech is go out on a limb?
Go out on a limb is a verb.
What is the past tense of go out on a limb?
The past tense of go out on a limb is went out on a limb.

Words near go out on a limb in the dictionary

  1. go order
  2. go orders
  3. go out
  4. go out like a light
  5. go out of one's way
  6. go out on a limb
  7. go out swinging
  8. go out with a bang
  9. go out with the ark
  10. go outside
  11. go over

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: go out on a limb (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 out on a limb.ogg.

Cite this entry: “go out on a limb.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/go_out_on_a_limb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.