Off


[awf, of] /ɔf, ɒf/

adverb
1.
so as to be no longer supported or attached:
This button is about to come off.
2.
so as to be no longer covering or enclosing:
to take a hat off; to take the wrapping off.
3.
away from a place:
to run off; to look off toward the west.
4.
away from a path, course, etc.; aside:
This road branches off to Grove City.
5.
so as to be away or on one’s way:
to start off early; to cast off.
6.
away from what is considered normal, regular, standard, or the like:
to go off on a tangent.
7.
from a charge or price:
He took 10 percent off for all cash purchases.
8.
at a distance in space or future time:
to back off a few feet; Summer is only a week off.
9.
out of operation or effective existence:
Turn the lights off.
10.
into operation or action:
The alarm goes off at noon.
11.
so as to interrupt continuity or cause discontinuance:
Negotiations have been broken off.
12.
in absence from work, service, a job, etc.:
two days off at Christmas.
13.
completely; utterly:
to kill off all the inhabitants.
14.
with prompt or ready performance:
to dash a letter off.
15.
to fulfillment, or into execution or effect:
The contest came off on the appointed day.
16.
into nonexistence or nothingness:
My headache passed off soon.
17.
so as to be delineated, divided, or apportioned:
Mark it off into equal parts.
18.
away from a state of consciousness:
I must have dozed off.
19.
Nautical. away from the land, a ship, the wind, etc.
preposition
20.
so as no longer to be supported by, attached to, on, resting on, or unified with:
Take your feet off the table! Break a piece of bread off the loaf.
21.
deviating from:
off balance; off course.
22.
below or less than the usual or expected level or standard:
20 percent off the marked price; I was off my golf game.
23.
away, disengaged, or resting from:
to be off duty on Tuesdays.
24.
Informal. refraining or abstaining from; denying oneself the pleasure, company, practice, etc., of:
He’s off gambling.
25.
away from; apart or distant from:
a village off the main road.
26.
leading into or away from:
an alley off 12th Street.
27.
not fixed on or directed toward, as the gaze, eyes, etc.:
Their eyes weren’t off the king for a moment.
28.
Informal. from (a specified source):
I bought it off a street vendor.
29.
from or of, indicating material or component parts:
to lunch off cheese and fruit.
30.
from or by such means or use of:
living off an inheritance; living off his parents.
31.
Nautical. at some distance to seaward of:
off Cape Hatteras.
adjective
32.
in error; wrong:
You are off on that point.
33.
slightly abnormal or not quite sane:
He is a little off, but he’s really harmless.
34.
not up to standard; not so good or satisfactory as usual; inferior or subnormal:
a good play full of off moments.
35.
no longer in effect, in operation, or in process:
The agreement is off.
36.
stopped from flowing, as by the closing of a valve:
The electricity is off.
37.
in a specified state, circumstance, etc.:
to be badly off for money.
38.
(of time) free from work or duty; nonworking:
a pastime for one’s off hours.
39.
not working at one’s usual occupation:
We’re off Wednesdays during the summer.
40.
of less than the ordinary activity, liveliness, or lively interest; slack:
an off season in the tourist trade.
41.
unlikely; remote; doubtful:
on the off chance that we’d find her at home.
42.
more distant; farther:
the off side of a wall.
43.
(of a vehicle, single animal, or pair of animals hitched side by side) of, being, or pertaining to the right as seen from the rider’s or driver’s viewpoint (opposed to ):
the off horse; the off side.
44.
starting on one’s way; leaving:
I’m off to Europe on Monday. They’re off and running in the third race at Aqueduct.
45.
lower in price or value; down:
Stock prices were off this morning.
46.
Nautical. noting one of two like things that is the farther from the shore; seaward:
the off side of the ship.
47.
Cricket. noting or pertaining to that side of the wicket or of the field opposite that on which the batsman stands.
noun
48.
the state or fact of being off.
49.
Cricket. the off side.
verb (used without object)
50.
to go off or away; leave (used imperatively):
Off, and don’t come back!
verb (used with object)
51.
Slang. to kill; slay.
Verb phrases
52.
get off on. (def 57).
Idioms
53.
get it off. (def 54).
54.
off and on,

55.
off of, Informal. off:
Take your feet off of the table!
56.
off with,

1.
a suffixal use of the adverb off, forming nouns that denote competitions, especially between the finalists of earlier competitions or as a means of deciding a tie:
cookoff; playoff; runoff.
1.
offered.
2.
.
3.
.
4.
.
/ɒf/
preposition
1.
used to indicate actions in which contact is absent or rendered absent, as between an object and a surface: to lift a cup off the table
2.
used to indicate the removal of something that is or has been appended to or in association with something else: to take the tax off potatoes
3.
out of alignment with: we are off course
4.
situated near to or leading away from: just off the High Street
5.
not inclined towards: I’m off work, I’ve gone off you
adverb
6.
(particle) so as to be deactivated or disengaged: turn off the radio
7.
(particle)

8.
spent away from work or other duties: take the afternoon off
9.

10.
out from the shore or land: the ship stood off
11.

12.
away in the future: August is less than a week off
13.
(particle) so as to be no longer taking place: the match has been rained off
14.
(particle) removed from contact with something, as clothing from the body: the girl took all her clothes off
15.
offstage: noises off
16.
(commerce) (used with a preceding number) indicating the number of items required or produced: please supply 100 off
17.
off and on, on and off, occasionally; intermittently: he comes here off and on
18.
(interjection) off with, a command, often peremptory, or an exhortation to remove or cut off (something specified): off with his head, off with that coat, my dear
adjective
19.
not on; no longer operative: the off position on the dial
20.
(postpositive) not or no longer taking place; cancelled or postponed: the meeting is off
21.
in a specified condition regarding money, provisions, etc: well off, how are you off for bread?
22.
unsatisfactory or disappointing: his performance was rather off, an off year for good tennis
23.
(postpositive) in a condition as specified: I’d be better off without this job
24.
(postpositive) no longer on the menu; not being served at the moment: sorry, love, haddock is off
25.
(postpositive) (of food or drink) having gone bad, sour, etc: this milk is off
noun
26.
(cricket)

verb
27.
(transitive) to kill (someone)
adv.

by c.1200 as an emphatic form of Old English of (see of), employed in the adverbial use of that word. The prepositional meaning “away from” and the adjectival sense of “farther” were not firmly fixed in this variant until 17c., but once they were they left the original of with the transferred and weakened senses of the word. Meaning “not working” is from 1861. Off the cuff (1938) is from the notion of speaking from notes written in haste on one’s shirt cuffs. Off the rack (adj.) is from 1963; off the record is from 1933; off the wall “crazy” is 1968, probably from the notion of a lunatic “bouncing off the walls” or else in reference to carom shots in squash, handball, etc.
v.

“to kill,” 1930, from off (adv.). Earlier verbal senses were “to defer” (1640s), “to move off” (1882). Related: Offed.

adjective

verb

1.
office
2.
officer
3.
official

Read Also:

  • Offa

    [awf-uh] /ˈɔf ə/ noun 1. died 796, king of Mercia 757–96. /ˈɒfə/ noun 1. died 796 ad, king of Mercia (757–796), who constructed an earthwork (Offa’s Dyke) between Wales and Mercia /ˈɒfə/ noun acronym 1. Orthopaedic Foundation for Animals

  • Off-air

    [awf-air, of-] /ˈɔfˈɛər, ˈɒf-/ adjective 1. not broadcast, but said, played, or happening in a radio or television studio context. adjective, adverb 1. obtained by reception of a radiated broadcasting signal rather than by line feed: an off-air recording 2. connected with a radio or television programme but not broadcast: an off-air phone-in

  • Offal

    [aw-fuh l, of-uh l] /ˈɔ fəl, ˈɒf əl/ noun 1. the parts of a butchered animal that are considered inedible by human beings; carrion. 2. the parts of a butchered animal removed in dressing; viscera. 3. refuse; rubbish; garbage. /ˈɒfəl/ noun 1. the edible internal parts of an animal, such as the heart, liver, and […]

  • Odontophore

    [oh-don-tuh-fawr, -fohr] /oʊˈdɒn təˌfɔr, -ˌfoʊr/ noun, Zoology. 1. a structure in the mouth of most mollusks over which the radula is drawn backward and forward in the process of breaking up food. /ɒˈdɒntəˌfɔː/ noun 1. an oral muscular protrusible structure in molluscs that supports the radula

  • Odontophobia

    noun a fear of teeth Word Origin odonto- ‘teeth’


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