Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
one's head off en · ADV
Meanings
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Without restraint, hesitation, or inhibition; endlessly.
1998, Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible, New York: HarperFlamingo, p. 103,
Late in the fall, the milky green bushes surrounding every house and path suddenly revealed themselves as poinsettias. They bloomed their heads off and Christmas rang out in the sticky heat […]
Besides, sister, I don’t want you working your head off for us—you’ve no reason to do that.
1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:[Tom] said now she couldn’t ever count them spoons twice alike again to save her life; and wouldn’t believe she’d counted them right, if she did! and said that after she’d about counted her head off, for the next three days, he judged she’d give it up and offer to kill anybody that wanted her to ever count them any more.
1884, Mark Twain, chapter 37, in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, London: Thomas Nelson, page 327:He has been worrying his head off all morning about how he will do on the finals.