go for

to go somewhere in order to have or fetch

he went for a drink

shall I go for a doctor?

to seek to obtain

I'd go for that job if I were you

to apply to

what I told him goes for you too

to prefer or choose; like

I really go for that new idea of yours

to be to the advantage of

you'll have great things going for you in the New Year

to make a physical or verbal attack on

to be considered to be of a stated importance or value

his twenty years went for nothing when he was made redundant

informal to make the maximum effort to achieve a particular goal

Go in order to get, as in I'll go for the paper , or He went for the doctor . This usage, dating from the late 1500s, gave rise to the 20th-century noun gofer , a person who is habitually sent on routine errands.

Be equivalent to or valued as; also, pass for, serve as. For example, All our efforts are going for very little , or That silver went for a lot of money , or That sofa can go for a bed . [Mid-1500s]

Aim or try for, especially making a vigorous effort. For example, They're going for the league championship . This idiom is also put as go for it , as in When Steve said he'd like to change careers, his wife told him to go for it . The related phrase go for broke means “to commit all one's available resources toward achieving a goal,” as in Our competitors are going for broke to get some of our accounts . The first expression dates from the mid-1500s; the two colloquial variants from the first half of the 1900s. Also see all out ; go out for .

Attack, as in We have to tie up our dog, because he loves to go for letter carriers . A hyperbolic variant, go for the jugular , is used for an all-out attack on the most vital part, as in In political arguments he always goes for the jugular . The jugular is a blood vessel whose rupture is life-threatening. [ Colloquial ; late 1800s]

Have a special liking for, as in I really go for progressive jazz . [ Colloquial ; first half of 1900s]

Be valid for or applicable to, as in Kevin hates broccoli, and that goes for Dean, too . [Early 1900s] Also see have going for one .