head off at the pass
The idiom 'head off at the pass' originates from Western movies where characters would intercept others at a mountain pass to prevent them from proceeding.
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Definition
B2General
(informal)To intercept or stop someone or something before they reach their goal.
Example
- She headed him off at the pass to prevent him from entering the building.
B2Problem-Solving
(informal)To take action to prevent a potential problem from occurring.
Example
- The manager decided to head off the issue at the pass by addressing it early.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "head off at the pass":
head offnip in the budblock offget ahead ofgive the go-bycut offsteal a marchpass offget the drop onget pastcut acrosspass overrun pastbeat offfight offjump the gungo over someone's headfend offstop shortbear offstop outget ahead of oneselfstop offpass ontake someone's head offpass forturn aside