Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[jays]

Please explain the meaning of "go off" in the following sentence.
--------- the following -----------
When he got home, he put the glue on the bottom of the mouse traps and stuck them on the ceiling. Then he baited them carefully with pieces of cheese and set them to go off.

[pugachevV]

When a trap goes off it means it is sprung.
A mouse trap goes off when a mouse (or something else) tries to eat the cheese.