"go off half-cocked" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From the days of flintlock and caplock firearms, where the half-cock position of the hammer was both a rudimentary safety, and the proper position for priming the pan or inserting a percussion cap. The phrase was originally rendered, \"to go off at half-cock.\"",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "goes off half-cocked",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "going off half-cocked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "went off half-cocked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gone off half-cocked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "go<goes,,went,gone> off half-cocked",
        "head": "go off half-cocked"
      },
      "expansion": "go off half-cocked (third-person singular simple present goes off half-cocked, present participle going off half-cocked, simple past went off half-cocked, past participle gone off half-cocked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Make sure none of your men go off half-cocked and ruin this operation."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To take a premature or ill-considered action."
      ],
      "id": "en-go_off_half-cocked-en-verb-4DdWDoXh",
      "links": [
        [
          "premature",
          "premature"
        ],
        [
          "ill-considered",
          "ill-considered"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, colloquial): To take a premature or ill-considered action."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "flash in the pan"
        },
        {
          "word": "lock, stock and barrel"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-go off half-cocked.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-go_off_half-cocked.ogg/En-au-go_off_half-cocked.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-go_off_half-cocked.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "go off half-cocked"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From the days of flintlock and caplock firearms, where the half-cock position of the hammer was both a rudimentary safety, and the proper position for priming the pan or inserting a percussion cap. The phrase was originally rendered, \"to go off at half-cock.\"",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "goes off half-cocked",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "going off half-cocked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "went off half-cocked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gone off half-cocked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "go<goes,,went,gone> off half-cocked",
        "head": "go off half-cocked"
      },
      "expansion": "go off half-cocked (third-person singular simple present goes off half-cocked, present participle going off half-cocked, simple past went off half-cocked, past participle gone off half-cocked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "flash in the pan"
    },
    {
      "word": "lock, stock and barrel"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Make sure none of your men go off half-cocked and ruin this operation."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To take a premature or ill-considered action."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "premature",
          "premature"
        ],
        [
          "ill-considered",
          "ill-considered"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, colloquial): To take a premature or ill-considered action."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-go off half-cocked.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-go_off_half-cocked.ogg/En-au-go_off_half-cocked.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-go_off_half-cocked.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "go off half-cocked"
}