go off the reservation
(by extension) To engage in disruptive activity outside normal bounds.
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#1·Apr 27, 2026
(by extension) To engage in disruptive activity outside normal bounds.
I'll never forget 1948 when these so called "liberals" (synthetics I call them) went off the reservation and gave New York to Dewey.
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#2·Apr 27, 2026
(US, politics) To break with one's party or group, usually temporarily.
This hand was ready to give the works to any physician, a member of the Medical Association in good standing, who'd go off the reservation by daring to serve a medical co-operative on a full-time salary.
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#3·Apr 27, 2026
(literally, derogatory) To leave an Indian reservation to which one was restricted.
The Indian may go off the reservation, he can steal from the whites and run back to the reservation with impunity.
Origin: By analogy with a member of the tribe leaving an Indian reservation. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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Other words near "go off the reservation" (G)
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