Word.ws English Dictionary

having a go

having a go is the present participle and gerund of have a go.

Meaning of have a go

Verb

have a go (third-person singular simple present has a go, present participle having a go, simple past and past participle had a go)

  1. (Australia, UK, informal, intransitive) To make an attempt; to try.
    • I've never tried karate before, but I'm willing to have a go.
  2. (Australia, UK, idiomatic, informal, intransitive) To attack someone physically; to have a fight.
    • I heard you had a go at Jack the other night.
  3. (Australia, UK, idiomatic, informal, intransitive) To tell off (especially unnecessarily or excessively), to criticise.
    • My teacher had a go at me earlier, just for missing one sodding homework. I was fuming.

Questions about having a go

What is having a go the present participle and gerund of?
Having a go is the present participle and gerund of have a go.

Words near having a go in the dictionary

  1. having a face on
  2. having a few too many
  3. having a fit
  4. having a foot in both camps
  5. having a gas
  6. having a go
  7. having a good mind to
  8. having a good one
  9. having a good time
  10. having a good time of it
  11. having a hand in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: having a go (page history and authors); have a go (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: “having a go.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/having_a_go. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.