head off
2 meanings
stop something bad from happening by acting early
What does "head off" mean in this sense?
Examples
- The manager called a meeting to head off any potential disagreements between the teams.
- They managed to head the crisis off just before it became public knowledge.
- Better communication could have headed off a lot of the problems we faced last year.
How to use it
The most common pattern — a transitive use where the object is a problem, crisis, conflict, or other undesirable situation.
The CEO held an emergency meeting to head off a potential scandal.
When the object is a pronoun, it must go between 'head' and 'off' — placing it after 'off' is ungrammatical.
There was going to be a huge argument, but she managed to head it off in time.
With short noun phrases, separation is natural and often preferred over the unseparated form.
The negotiations were designed to head the strike off before it could disrupt production.
The passive form is grammatically natural and appears mainly in journalism and formal writing.
A damaging dispute between the two departments was headed off by the director's intervention.
Often used with modal verbs to talk about the possibility or necessity of preventing something.
Better planning could head off a lot of the difficulties we're likely to face next year.
Common Collocations
Common Mistakes
The phrasal verb 'head off' also exists as a completely separate expression meaning to depart or set out, and learners sometimes mix up the two. The prevention sense always requires a direct object — if there is no object, the meaning shifts to the departure sense.
When the object is a pronoun such as 'it' or 'them', it must come between 'head' and 'off'. Placing the pronoun after 'off' is ungrammatical in English.
The object of 'head off' is almost always something negative or undesirable — a crisis, conflict, problem, or threat. Using it with neutral or positive things sounds unnatural.
Usage
This phrasal verb is neutral in register and works in both spoken and written English, but it is especially common in news, politics, and business contexts. The object is almost always something negative, like a crisis, problem, or conflict.
leave or start a journey
Sense 2: What does "head off" mean?
Examples
- We headed off early to avoid the traffic.
- They're heading off on holiday tomorrow, so the house will be empty.
- What time are you planning to head off?
How to use it
Used intransitively with a time expression to say when someone is leaving; no direct object follows the verb.
We need to head off soon if we want to make the first train.
Often followed by a prepositional phrase indicating where someone is going or what kind of journey they are making.
She's heading off to Rome next week for a conference.
Place adverbs like 'home' or 'back' can follow directly without a preposition, giving the sentence a natural, conversational feel.
It's getting late — I think I'll head off home.
Future forms are very common with this phrasal verb, since it often describes planned departures rather than things already happening.
They're going to head off at dawn to beat the crowds.
Used to sequence a departure relative to another event, often to explain timing decisions.
Let's head off before the rush hour traffic gets too bad.
Common Collocations
Common Mistakes
In this sense, 'head off' is intransitive — it never takes a direct object. If a noun follows directly (e.g. 'head off the problem'), the meaning shifts entirely to 'prevent', which is a completely different sense. Always follow this 'head off' with a time expression, a destination, or nothing at all.
'Head out' typically means leaving a contained space like a room or building, whereas 'head off' suggests setting out on a journey with a sense of destination or purpose. They're not always interchangeable.
Saying 'I have been heading off' sounds forced and unnatural. This phrasal verb works best in the simple past, present continuous, or future forms — tenses that describe a specific departure rather than an ongoing state.
Usage
This phrasal verb is neutral and works in both British and American English. It is slightly more informal than 'depart' or 'set off', making it ideal for everyday conversation and informal writing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does 'head off' always have to be about something negative?
Yes, almost always. The object of 'head off' in this sense is nearly always something bad — a crisis, a disaster, a conflict, criticism, or trouble. You wouldn't naturally use it to prevent something positive or neutral from happening. This is one of the clearest collocational patterns of the phrasal verb.
Can I use 'heading off' in the present continuous?
It sounds slightly unnatural in most cases. 'Head off' in the prevention sense usually describes a completed or intended action, so simple tenses and modal constructions (like 'could head off' or 'managed to head off') are far more common. You might occasionally hear the present continuous if someone is describing an action actively in progress, but it is rare.
What kinds of things can you 'head off'?
The most natural collocations are with negative situations and events: a crisis, a disaster, a conflict, a strike, a recession, criticism, trouble, a confrontation, or a scandal. The common thread is that all of these are things you want to stop before they fully develop. You wouldn't typically use 'head off' with a physical object or a person.
Is 'head off' more formal or informal?
It sits in the middle — it works in both spoken and written English. You'll hear it in everyday conversation ('we need to head off any complaints'), but it's especially frequent in news articles, political reporting, and business discussions. It's unlikely to sound out of place in most contexts.
What is the difference between 'head off' and 'stave off'?
'Stave off' often implies holding something back temporarily or with great difficulty — there's usually a sense that the problem is still a real threat. 'Head off' suggests a more decisive, pre-emptive intervention that stops the problem from happening at all. If someone staves off a crisis, it may return; if they head it off, the implication is that it was stopped in its tracks.
Does 'head off' always mean leaving on a journey, or can it mean something else?
There is another common sense of 'head off' that means to prevent or intercept something, as in 'head off a problem'. The key difference is that the departure sense never takes a direct object — if you see a noun phrase like 'a crisis' or 'trouble' directly after 'head off', it's the preventative meaning. This page covers only the departure sense.
Is 'head off' more natural than 'set off' in everyday conversation?
They are very close in meaning and largely interchangeable. 'Head off' is perhaps slightly more informal and often implies a clear direction or destination, while 'set off' puts more emphasis on the act of starting the journey itself. In practice, most native speakers use both without thinking carefully about the difference.
Can I use 'head off' to describe a company or organisation leaving, or is it only for people?
It's most natural with people or groups of people, and works well in first- and third-person contexts. It can be used metaphorically — for example, 'the expedition headed off into unknown territory' — but you wouldn't typically say a company or abstract entity 'headed off' somewhere.
What kinds of words most naturally follow 'head off'?
The most natural partners are time expressions (early, soon, at dawn, in the morning) and directional phrases using 'to', 'on', or 'for' (head off to the airport, head off on holiday, head off for the weekend). Place adverbs like 'home' and 'back' also follow it directly without a preposition.
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