go west
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.22 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see go, west.
verb
To move to the American West, particularly (historical) during the 19th century era.
American usage
Example Sentences
- "Go west until you hit the ocean, then turn left."
- "For hit was nyght, the sonne goth west"
- "I see the rocks set in the sky, and maybe the sun going west, and the trees getting dark."
- "Women and mony wilsome wy,"
- "The Irish, and the Scottish Highlanders, always describe persons lately dead as having gone west."
- "Does any one know the origin or meaning of the soldiers' curious phrase for death, ‘Going West’?"
Etymology
In reference to death, originally Scottish, reaching broader usage among the soldiers of World War I. In reference to Manifest Destiny in the United States, a paraphrase of Horace Greeley's 25 Aug. 1838 advice in The New Yorker that young men should "Go to the West" if free to do so.