| 释义 |
▪ I. offset, n.|ˈɒfsɛt, ˈɔː-|
[f. off- 3 + set. Cf. set-off.]
1. The act of setting off (on a journey or course of action); outset, start.
a1555Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 311 When you thus get out of your way at the first off-set. 1803Southey Lett. (1856) I. 235 He addressed a letter to me, announcing their off-set. 1899Eclectic Mag. Feb. 201 At the offset I was out of it.
2. A short lateral offshoot from the stem or root of a plant (esp. from a bulb), serving for propagation.
1629J. Parkinson Parad. xi. 114 The root is..compassed with a number of small rootes, or of of-sets round about it. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort., July (1729) 211 Take up your Gladiolus now yearly..or else their Off-sets will poison the ground. 1667Decay Chr. Piety ix. §6 This root of bitterness..sent forth some offsets to preserve its kind. 1796C. Marshall Garden. vi. (1813) 81 The young offsets from strawberries slipped in autumn..will do for plants. 1856E. S. Delamer Flower Garden (1861) 21 The capability of propagation by offsets is another point of interest belonging to bulbs. 1880Gray Struct. Bot. iii. §1. 33 Houseleeks..and such-like fibrous-rooted succulent plants multiply freely by offsets. 1925A. J. MacSelf Bulb Gardening xiv. 215 Almost all bulbs and corms throw what are termed offsets, which are first attached to the basal wing of the bulb, drawing nourishment from the parent bulb, but later developing an independent root system. 1970Sunday Tel. 3 May 19/2 The striped pineapple plant..which I have known having to be guarded at Chelsea Show for fear of the offsets that slowly form the new plants getting missed.
3. transf. and fig.
a. Something that springs or is derived from another; a lateral branch, an offshoot.
1756T. Amory Buncle (1770) II. 22 note, He has omitted..many antiquities that are to be found in off-sets by the way. 1806C. Anderson Let. in Life iv. (1854) 65 Mr. Macfarlane's Church (an offset from the Tabernacle). 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. viii. (1856) 56 The glaciers which abut upon this sound are probably offsets from an interior mer de glace. 1863M. J. Berkeley Brit. Mosses iii. 19 The female organs..are disposed in little special offsets from the stem. 1870Rock Text. Fabr. Introd. 137 As an offset from symbolism, heraldry sprang up.
b. spec. A person, or tribe, springing collaterally from a specified family or race; a ‘scion’.
1711W. King tr. Naude's Ref. Politics iii. 88 The kingdom at last..came to Pepin an off-set of the family of Clodion. 1834McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 42 Others assert that they are mere degenerate offsets from the Scythian and Tartar branch of the Caucasian stock. 1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 126 They speak the Shoshonie language, and probably are offsets from that tribe.
c. A minor branch of a mountain range; a spur.
1833Penny Cycl. I. 139/2 A hill, called Mount St. Elias..with its offsets, occupies the southern part of the island [ægina]. 1879L. G. Seguin Blk. Forest vi. 85 Hills, which are an offset of the Black Forest range.
d. Naut. A current flowing outwards from the shore. Also attrib.
1902Daily Chron. 30 Aug. 5/6 There was..what maritime men call an offset at the time Holbein was swimming. Ibid. 2 Sept. 5/5 He had got the benefit of a good off-set current under him.
4. Something that ‘sets off’, embellishes, or throws something else into prominence; a set-off.
1675G. R. tr. Le Grand's Man without Passion 53 The excellency of Vertue needs no off-sets. 1721Ramsay Content 371 Three waiting-maids..One mov'd beneath a load of silks and lace, Another bore the off-sets of the face. a1864Ferrier Grk. Philos. (1866) I. xii. 338 A foil or offset or complement.
5. Something ‘set off’ against something else so as to counterbalance it, as an item on one side of an account equivalent to one on the other side; anything that counterbalances, compensates, or makes up for something else: a set-off.
1769Conn. Col. Rec. (1885) XIII. 207 A petition..setting forth that the petitioner and petitionee have executions against each other now in the hands of Ezekiel Williams,..upon which the petitioner prays for an off-set of the same. 1792N. Chipman Rep. (1871) 83 Defendant may plead an offset of any sum due to him by the plaintiff. 1832G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 305 As an offset to this, its luxury of flagging is very gratifying to British soles. 1870Lowell Study Wind. 219 The Spanish and English [tragedies] agree in the Teutonic peculiarity of admitting the humorous offset of the clown. 1932Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 13 Aug. 1/3 Mr. Minor's action is what is known as an offset. He is asking the difference between $5,000 and the amount he alleges is due to him, or slightly more than $21,000. 1973Times 11 June 14/1 Instead of being 50p better off, she gained only 15p a week. The High Court ruled that this automatic offset, which was standard commission procedure, was unlawful.
6. Surveying. A short distance measured perpendicularly from a main line of measurement, as from the straight line joining the two ends of an irregular boundary, to a point (e.g. an angle) in the boundary, in order to calculate the area of the irregularly bounded part.
1725Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Surveying, Before you begin to measure the Line, take the Off-set to the Hedge, viz. the Distance ☉ e. 1807Hutton Course Math. II. 62 Observe when you are directly opposite any bends or corners of the boundary..and from these measure the perpendicular offsets..with the offset-staff, if they are not very large, otherwise with the chain itself. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 94/2 Before he proceeds to the determination of the distances or dimensions, technically called ‘offsets’.
7. a. Arch. A horizontal or sloping break or ledge on the face of a wall, pier, etc., formed where the portion above is reduced in thickness.
1721Perry Daggenh. Breach 105 The Work being carry'd up with good Earth by proper Off-sets. 1772Hutton Bridges 97 Made with a broad bottom on the foundation, and gradually diminished in thickness by offsets. 1861Smiles Engineers II. vii. vi. 183 Longitudinal bearers, firmly fixed to the offsets of the piers and abutments.
b. A horizontal terrace on the side of a slope or hill. (local U.S.)
1856Porter's Spirit of Times 18 Oct. 106/3 The hearth⁓stone, garden, ‘offsets’,..and a thousand delicious memories..swarm before us now. 1864in Webster. 1873J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xxvi. 555 He then walked along a flat offset five or six feet below the house. 1878― Western Wilds x. 157 About half way up the cliff is a small offset, where grows a beautiful pine. 1889in Farmer Americanisms.
8. See quot. (U.S.)
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Offset. (Carriage Hardware.) The fork at the point in the back-stay where the branches separate to reach the hind axle at two points.
9. A more or less abrupt bend in a pipe, made to carry it past an obstruction in its course.
10. Printing.
a. = set-off: see quot.
1888Jacobi Printers' Voc. 90 Off-set, the set-off of ink from one sheet to another of printed work whilst wet.
b. Used, freq. attrib., of a printing process whereby an image is first impressed on a rubber-covered cylinder and thence transferred to the paper; also used attrib. of paper suitable for use in this process.
1906Brit. Printer Oct. 283/2 The offset process—that is, working first on the blanket and offsetting from this on to the paper fed into the machine—is as the usual method. 1909Brit. Pat. 25,446 4 Nov., For printing in lithographic machines by the so-called offset process, the lithographic design used as the basis of printing is generally the opposite or the reverse of that which would be used in ordinary direct lithographic printing... By our invention we provide a press..for conveniently reversing designs or pulling proofs from reversed designs, such works being carried out by the offset method. 1918Pall Mall Gaz. 29 June 8/5 A Litho Offset Press. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) § 526 Offset-litho operator, a photographer..who obtains a negative, not reversed in position, with or without using a screen. 1926Encycl. Brit. III. 220/2 By the offset method any paper, whether smooth- or rough-surfaced, may be used... Offset seems to be particularly adapted to colour⁓work. 1928Penrose Ann. 111 The faulty soluble coating in so many classes of so-called offset papers, engenders printing troubles. 1929Horse I. 61 The process employed in reproducing this notable painting is that known as offset. 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 25 June p. viii/3 The rollicking offset-lithographs of Elsa Moeschlin. 1937Discovery Oct. 297 An offset—a print made in a non⁓greasy powdered chalk. 1958J. R. Biggs Woodcuts 91 Offset cartridge, that is, the paper made for printing offset lithography, has a kindly surface, and a firm feel which is suitable for some subjects. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Apr. 188/3 Dr. Willoughby's book, printed by offset from type⁓written script. 1967Karch & Buber Offset Processes Pref., Although growth for the entire [printing] industry has been great, offset-lithography has grown at twice the rate of the industry as a whole. Ibid. ii. 12 Letterpress printed halftones..can often be..rescreened for printing by the offset-lithographic process. 1970[see flexography]. 1976Sci. Amer. Jan. 135/1 This work is unappealing typographically, dominated by crowded typewritten copy in grayish offset.
11. Comb. offset-blanket, a blanket or sheet of thick soft paper attached to a special cylinder on a printing-press for the purpose of receiving the offset, or excess of ink, on freshly printed sheets of paper; offset-glass, an oil-cup or journal-oiler with a glass globe flattened on one side so as to allow it to stand close to the side of an object (Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 1884); offset-pipe, a piece of pipe having a bend, used for effecting an offset: see 9 (ibid.); offset purchase Econ., a purchase made abroad by agreement to counter-balance revenues spent in the buying country by the selling country; offset-sheet (Printing) = set-off sheet: see set-off; offset-staff (Surveying), a rod used in measuring offsets; offset well (see quot. 1971); also ellipt. offset.
1966Economist 20 Aug. 731/2 The Germans continue to be slow in making their military ‘offset’ purchases to counter the dollars which are drained away by the cost of keeping American troops in Germany. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 550 There was an appalling incident in the House when he was caught out about our attempt to pay for the new American planes with offset purchases.
1807Hutton Course Math. II. 57 An offset-staff..for measuring the offsets and other short distances. It is 10 links in length, being divided and marked at each of the 10 links.
1922Petroleum Gloss. (Pan Amer. Petroleum & Transport Co.) 32 Offset well, a well drilled opposite to a well on an adjoining property. 1924Amer. Review of Reviews Mar. 231 Adjacent to one of the California reserves were oil lands that were under active development, with wells near enough to the boundary lines of the naval territory to cause a draining away of a certain amount of oil that lay beneath the navy's property. Under such circumstances, it is customary to sink what are known as ‘offset wells’. 1932World Petroleum III. 467/1 Production in the light oil zone at the discovery well in the center of the field..has since been considerably augmented by the completion of offset wells. 1971Williams & Meyers Oil & Gas Terms (ed. 3) 294 Offset well, a well drilled on one tract of land to prevent the drainage of oil or gas to an adjoining tract of land, on which a well is being drilled or is already in production. 1974R. D. Grace in P. L. Moore et al. Drilling Practices Manual 349 Deviation to 10 degrees was recorded in the north offset.
▪ II. offset, v.|ˌɒfˈsɛt, ˌɔː-|
[f. off- 1 + set v.1]
1. trans. To set off as an equivalent against something else or part of something else; to balance by something on the other side or of contrary nature. Also said of the equivalent: To counterbalance, compensate.
1792N. Chipman Rep. (1871) 84 The demands of plaintiff and defendant must be mutual..or they will not be allowed to offset one against the other. 1860Emerson Cond. Life, Power Wks. (Bohn) II. 340 In human action, against the spasm of energy we offset the continuity of drill. 1877Scribner's Mag. XV. 196/1 He had lost twenty-four Whig votes to offset the twenty-five Democratic votes which Lathers received. 1898Atlantic Monthly Apr. 456/2 We traveled southward; but an ascent of a thousand feet offset, and more than offset, the change of latitude. 1930G. B. Shaw Androcles & Lion Pref. 58 The triumphant solution of the first by our inventors and chemists has been offset by the disastrous failure of our rulers to solve the other. 1936Discovery Sept. 278/1 To have a large family, it is essential for the parents to start at an early stage, and this is offset by the tendency to postpone marriage. 1968Lebende Sprachen XIII. 51/2 The customer can offset claims on the bank only against liabilities in the same currency. 1975E. F. L. Brech Princ. & Pract. Managem. (ed. 3) v. x. 813 Companies were required to deduct tax at the standard rate from all dividends paid... The only exception to this rule was if the company had itself received a dividend under deduction of tax from some other UK company... The tax on the latter could then be offset and only the net balance was remittable.
2. a. intr. To spring, branch off, or project as an offset from something else (cf. prec. 3 a).
1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xli. (1856) 371 Ridges, offsetting from the higher range, project in spurs laterally. 1877R. F. Burton in Athenæum 3 Nov. 568/3 To the north-west offsets the Ngombe..stream.
b. trans. To furnish with an offset (see prec. 9).
1889Sci. Amer. 17 Aug. 107/1 Bending and offsetting of the pipe is a matter of economy or taste with the pipe fitters.
3. Printing. intr. To cause an off-set or set-off.
1888Jacobi Printers' Voc. 122 When the ink off-sets from one sheet to another.
Hence ˈoffˌsetting vbl. n. and ppl. a.; offsetting-blanket = offset blanket: see offset n. 11.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. iii. 33 Made the offsetting streams of the pack, and bore up to the northward and eastward. 1857Dickens Perils Eng. Prisoners iii, in Househ. Words Extra Christmas No., 7 Dec. 30/2 The off-settings and point-currents of the stream. 1889[see 2 b]. 1908Daily Chron. 24 Aug. 9/7, I was swimming against a strong offsetting tide. 1946E. Hodgins Mr. Blandings builds his Dream House (1947) xvi. 208 The Blandings saw their house..in all its gleaming whiteness, the delicate waving leaves..the perfect offsetting foils. 1970P. Oliver Savannah Syncopators 28 The offsetting of the rhythms of the different drums against the gongs and against each other, sets up an exhilarating tension. 1975Times 10 July 4/8 Mr Callaghan..sees the release of Mr Hills as unconditional. No offsetting arrangement will be discussed. |