Off
[ɒf] or [ɔf]
Definition
(adj.) not performing or scheduled for duties; 'He's off every Tuesday' .
(adj.) not in operation or operational; 'the oven is off'; 'the lights are off' .
(adj.) (of events) no longer planned or scheduled; 'the wedding is definitely off' .
(adj.) below a satisfactory level; 'an off year for tennis'; 'his performance was off' .
(adj.) in an unpalatable state; 'sour milk' .
(adv.) no longer on or in contact or attached; 'clean off the dirt'; 'he shaved off his mustache'.
(adv.) at a distance in space or time; 'the boat was 5 miles off (or away)'; 'the party is still 2 weeks off (or away)'; 'away back in the 18th century'.
Typist: Shelby--From WordNet
Definition
(adv.) In a general sense, denoting from or away from; as:
(adv.) Denoting distance or separation; as, the house is a mile off.
(adv.) Denoting the action of removing or separating; separation; as, to take off the hat or cloak; to cut off, to pare off, to clip off, to peel off, to tear off, to march off, to fly off, and the like.
(adv.) Denoting a leaving, abandonment, departure, abatement, interruption, or remission; as, the fever goes off; the pain goes off; the game is off; all bets are off.
(adv.) Denoting a different direction; not on or towards: away; as, to look off.
(adv.) Denoting opposition or negation.
(interj.) Away; begone; -- a command to depart.
(prep.) Not on; away from; as, to be off one's legs or off the bed; two miles off the shore.
(a.) On the farther side; most distant; on the side of an animal or a team farthest from the driver when he is on foot; in the United States, the right side; as, the off horse or ox in a team, in distinction from the nigh or near horse or ox; the off leg.
(a.) Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from his post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent; as, he took an off day for fishing: an off year in politics.
(n.) The side of the field that is on the right of the wicket keeper.
Checker: Walter
Synonyms and Synonymous
prep. [1]. Not on, not upon.[2]. Facing, fronting, against, opposite, opposite to.
a. Most distant, on the farther side, on the right side.
ad. Away.
Inputed by Elizabeth
Definition
adv. from: away from: on the opposite side of a question.—adj. most distant: on the opposite or farther side: on the side of a cricket-field right of the wicket-keeper and left of the bowler: not devoted to usual business as an Off day.—prep. not on.—interj. away! depart!—adj. and adv. Off′-and-on′ occasional.—adj. Off′-col′our of inferior value: indisposed.—n. Off′-come (Scot.) an apology pretext: any exhibition of temper &c.—adv. Off′-hand at once: without hesitating.—adj. without study: impromptu: free and easy.—adj. Off′ish reserved in manner.—ns. Off′-print a reprint of a single article from a magazine or other periodical—the French tirage ?part German Abdruck; Off′-reck′oning an allowance formerly made to certain British officers from the money appropriated for army clothing.—v.t. Off′saddle to unsaddle.—ns. Off′scouring matter scoured off: refuse: anything vile or despised; Off′-scum refuse or scum; Off′set (in accounts) a sum or value set off against another as an equivalent: a short lateral shoot or bulb: a terrace on a hillside: (archit.) a horizontal ledge on the face of a wall: in surveying a perpendicular from the main line to an outlying point.—v.t. (in accounts) to place against as an equivalent.—n. Off′shoot that which shoots off from the main stem stream &c.: anything growing out of another.—adv. Off′shore in a direction from the shore as a wind: at a distance from the shore.—adj. from the shore.—ns. Off′side the right-hand side in driving: the farther side; Off′spring that which springs from another: a child or children: issue: production of any kind.—Off one's chump head demented; Off one's feed indisposed to eat.—Be off to go away quickly; Come off Go off Show off Take off &c. (see Come Go Show Take &c.); Ill off poor or unfortunate; Tell off to count: to assign as for a special duty; Well off rich well provided.
Edited by Jeremy
Examples
- I'm a-going off! Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Mr. Beaufort's secret, people were agreed, was the way he carried things off. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- She asks for a hundred pounds, and endeavors to buy them off. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- But here there was nothing to be shifted off in a wild speculation on the future. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Seizing the professor by the arm, Mr. Philander set off in the direction that would put the greatest distance between themselves and the lion. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- I am sufficiently well off to keep a hundred and fifty ton steam yacht, which is at present lying at Southampton, ready to start when I wish. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- You would compare them, I said, to those invalids who, having no self-restraint, will not leave off their habits of intemperance? Plato. The Republic.
- If I was young, it would all have to be gone through again, and the end would be a weary way off, don't you see? Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The common man in France was more free, better off, and happier during the Terror than he had been in 1787. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But it was good to break that off a little. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- If as a set-off (excuse the legal phrase from a barrister-at-law) you would like to ask Tippins to tea, I pledge myself to make love to her. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- I'm glad Mas'r didn't go off this morning, as he looked to, said Tom; that ar hurt me more than sellin', it did. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- He sat down beside her and waited; but suddenly he heard a step echoing far off down the empty rooms, and felt the pressure of the minutes. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- What a wrong, to cut off the girl from the family protection and inheritance only because she had chosen a man who was poor! George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Another way to make the composition is to soak over night in cold water best gelatine or glue 1 part, and the excess of water poured off. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- Mr. Gardiner had waited only for the letters before he set off. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Well, said he, did you see him take it off? Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- He went out before I went off. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- Every one heard, of course, that there had been some disagreement--some misunderstanding---- Did she hear that Bertha turned me off the yacht? Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- He has been talking off and on about such like all day, ma'am, said Jenny softly. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- I will try to be worthy, he said, breaking off before he could say of you as well as of her. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- My footman was at that instance setting off for my sister and Dr. Bain: and my good housekeeper was in tears. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- She knows I'm a going to tell,' here his delight broke out again, 'and has made off. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I have heard from my uncle how well you speak in public, so that every one is sorry when you leave off, and how clearly you can explain things. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Not wanting to go through the yard, because of the dogs, she turned off along the hill-side to descend on the pond from above. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Some distance off, across a paddock, lay a long gray-tiled out-building. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Of course he may have just mucked off with him too. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- I should like that well enough, dear,' replied Charlotte; 'but tills ain't to be emptied every day, and people to get clear off after it. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Suddenly she aroused herself and exclaimed, But I'll shake it off. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Mr. Sprague realized the trouble, quickly threw off the current and stopped the engine. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
Edited by Jeremy