Word.ws English Dictionary

went at it

went at it is the simple past 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 went at it

What is went at it the simple past of?
Went at it is the simple past of go at it.

Words near went at it in the dictionary

  1. went around the houses
  2. went around with
  3. went astray
  4. went at
  5. went at a good clip
  6. went at it
  7. went away
  8. went awry
  9. went back
  10. went back a long way
  11. went back in time

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: went 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: “went at it.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/went_at_it. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.