Word.ws English Dictionary

going at it

US/ˌɡoʊɪŋ ˈæt ɪt/

going at it is the present participle and gerund of go at it.

Meaning of go at it

Verb

go at it (third-person singular simple present goes at it, present participle going at it, simple past went at it, past participle gone at it)

  1. As go at + it; spoken emphasis typically on 'go'.
    • I can't figure out this problem. I've been going at it [going at the problem] for hours now.
  2. (informal) To engage in some activity, especially vigorously or enthusiastically.
    • We were all going at it like crazy, trying to get the job finished before the deadline.
  3. (intransitive, slang) To fight or argue.
    • Joe accidentally spilled his drink on Eric, Eric got up and insulted his mother, and before you know it, they were going at it.
  4. (euphemistic, intransitive, slang) To have sex.
    • I walked into my dorm room and caught my roommate and his girlfriend going at it.

Questions about going at it

What is going at it the present participle and gerund of?
Going at it is the present participle and gerund of go at it.
How do you pronounce going at it?
Going at it is pronounced /ˌɡoʊɪŋ ˈæt ɪt/ (US).

Words near going at it in the dictionary

  1. going around the houses
  2. going around with
  3. going astray
  4. going at
  5. going at a good clip
  6. going at it
  7. going away
  8. going away dress
  9. going away dresses
  10. going awry
  11. going back

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: going at it (page history and authors); go at it (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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Cite this entry: “going at it.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/going_at_it. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.