offadv.prep.n.adj.

Brit.

/ɒf/, U.S.

/ɔf/,

/ɑf/

Forms:

α. Old English–1700s of, Middle English–1600s ofe; English regional 1800s– of, 1800s– oft (Cumberland), 1800s– orf; Scottish pre-1700 af, pre-1700 afe, pre-1700 of, pre-1700 ofe.

β. late Old English– off, Middle English–1600s offe, 1600s affe, 1900s– hoff (colloquial); Scottish pre-1700 affe, pre-1700 offe, pre-1700 1700s– aff, pre-1700 1700s– off; also Irish English (northern) 1900s– aff.

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: of prep.

Etymology: < of prep. (see etymological note at that entry).Developed from the strong form of of prep., the word regularly has final /f/. Both weak and strong forms are used for of prep. until the 17th cent., at which time the two words become fully differentiated. Off is uncommon in Old English, and is used with greater frequency only after c1400. In Old and Middle English off forms collocations with following verbs, which can be regarded as examples of the prefix (see off- prefix 1a). The form offe in early Middle English (at which period the spelling indicated a disyllable) appears to have final -e on the analogy of inne, adverb denoting rest within a place, originally contrasted with inn, adverb denoting motion towards a place. N.E.D. (1902) gives also the pronunciation (ǫ̀f) /ɒf/, /ɔːf/.

In this entry are included all examples of the adverb, whether under (α) the earlier spelling of, or (β) the later off; but, of the preposition, only those uses for which off is now the recognized form; for others see of prep.

A. adv.

I. General uses.Off has been used since the Middle English period with many verbs, e.g. buy v., come v., dash v., get v., go v., look v., mark v., palm v., pass v., rattle v.¹, show v., take v., etc.: see the first element. In most of these the basic uses of off correspond to those given below, while (as with other phrasal verbs) the further developments take a more idiomatic turn.

a. Expressing motion or direction from a place: to a distance, away, quite away; as in to go off, run off, drive off. to be off: to get going; to go away. be off with you: get going; go away (cf. off (with you)! at sense A. 8b). Also expressing resistance to motion towards: as in to beat off, hang off, keep off, ward off.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > direction > [adverb] > away from some thing or place

awayeOE

outeOE

frowardOE

offOE

yondwardc1275

yonwarda1387

waywardsc1390

fromwarda1547

offward1582

fromwardsa1661

orf1845

α.

OE Blickling Homilies 5 Man sceolde mid sare on þas world cuman..& mid sare of gewitan.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) 3 Esdras iv. 9 If he seie to fallen of [a1425 L.V. throwe doun], þei fallen of.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 58 Leueful is with force, force of showue.

?c1500 Mary Magdalene (Digby) 379 Com of þan, let vs be-gynne.

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. CC^v Come of..thou that arte disposed to leaue all for the loue of Iesu.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. cclxij^v Peces of ordinaunce whiche shot of.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 163 King Gald..flies af the feild.

1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xv. xxvii. 569 The fittest forme for to keepe of the rayne and weather, was to bee ridged downe a proportioned descent from the toppe downeward.

1777 J. Woodforde Diary 22 July (1978) 134 Cousin Lewis and Son went of this morning for Nottingham.

β. 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 12 Neyther could we keepe off,..our outward enimies.c1575 Fawkner's Glasse in Perfect Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) When she knowe her game fly fare ofe.1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 557 To drive off his melancholy thoughts.1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 28 To send my Mate off with the Boat.1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xvii. 180 She is gone off with two gentlemen in a post chaise.1783 H. Cowley Which is the Man? iii. ii. 29 I'll go and pack up a few things, and call a coach and be off, before Lady Bell comes from Court.1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey IV. vi. vi. 220 We had better order our horses, and be off.1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. vi. 115 Mr. Quilp put his hat on and took himself off.1842 R. H. Barham Lay St. Cuthbert in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 229 Come, mizzle!—be off with you!—go!1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 65 I must be off into the woods.1896 Law Times 100 508/1 [He] succeeded in getting the animal under control, and rode off.1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow vi. 172 She beat him off.1934 C. P. Snow Search I. i. 11 He would set off, as though he and the church-bell had nothing in common.a1979 J. Grenfell Turn back Clock (1983) i. 10 Now, are you all ready? Then be off with you.1989 Weekly News (Glasgow) 27 May 28 Many defenders don't realise how strong he is, particularly in his ability to hold people off.2004 J. Colgan Do you remember First Time? xiii. 238 He would be off to Africa again soon with Madeleine and I'd never seen him again.

b. In figurative use, as to buy off, fall off, knock off, put off, etc. Cf. also sense A. 6a.

ΚΠ

α.

eOE Laws of Ine (Corpus Cambr. 173) lxxiv. §2. 122 Buton he him wille fæhðe ofaceapian.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 196^v Þis stoon warneþ of venour as electrum doþ and putteþ of diuers dredes and feres.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxxiv. 150 The kynge bought of sir Thomas Hallande,..and therle of Tankernyll, and payed for them twentie thousande nobles.

β. 1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 170 With fayre wordes [he] put them off for that tyme.1629 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. (ed. 5) xxxiv. sig. G4^v One whom no rate can buy off from the least piece of his freedome.1666 J. Davies tr. C. de Rochefort Hist. Caribby-Islands 268 They will fall off from what they have promised.1707 W. Funnell Voy. round World ix. 259 A small matter of Money will buy off a great Fault.1874 A. Trollope Lady Anna I. vii. 85 I mean it to be love, and I'm not going to be put off by Serjeant Bluestone.1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant xiv. 203 By the time the real weather comes along everybody has guessed wrong and knocked the market off a cent or two.1934 G. B. Shaw On the Rocks i. 25 You have to buy him off with a scrap of dole.1964 R. Gover Here goes Kitten 36 I was not put off by her tactics.2000 R. W. Holder Taunton Cider & Langdons iv. 18 In 1925 the miners were bought off for a time by an agreement for a minimum wage.

c. Nautical. Away from land, or from the vessel; (also) away from the wind.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > [adverb] > away from land or from ship

off1611

society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of wind > [adverb] > away from wind

off1611

1611 Bible (King James) Acts xxvii. 32 Then the souldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off [all prec. vv. away] .

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. i. 48 Lay her a hold, a hold, set her two courses off to Sea againe, lay her off.

1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret iv. i. sig. H3^v I would I had A conuoy too, to bring me safe off.

1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World vi. 132 He stood off to Sea, and we plied up under the shore.

1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. ii. i. 22 Then she would fall off 2 or 3 Points from the Wind.

1723 D. Defoe Four Years Voy. 27 To sail to the Isle of Sal, and bring off all the People.

1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 107 Nothing off... To bring the ship's head nearer to the Wind.

1988 Mid-Atlantic Country Mar. 62/2 We were mowed down during one particularly violent series of wintry blasts, falling off the wind under working jib only.

d. In predicative use: gone off, just going off, about to go, leaving. Also figurative: fallen or falling asleep; (in quot. 1815) dying. off out (colloquial): away from home, out of doors; on the point of leaving a place, on one's way somewhere.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > aspects of travel > departure, leaving, or going away > [adverb] > setting out

off1791

the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [adverb]

asleep1154

slumberingly1647

off1852

undera1936

1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsemanship ix. 42 My horse..was off with me in a jiffey.

1815 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 16 He raised himself up..and said almost inarticulately, ‘I am off’, and expired.

1852 Mrs. Smythies Bride Elect xliv Come, Geraldine, it is time to be off!

1856 T. De Quincey Confessions Eng. Opium-eater (rev. ed.) in Select. Grave & Gay V. 76 I'm off for the Red Sea.

1865 G. W. Thornbury Dr. Marigold's Prescriptions: To be Taken in Water in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 7 Dec. 32/1 ‘Why, you're talking in your sleep!’..‘What was I talking about?’..‘Greek, I think..but I was just off too.’

1907 E. M. Forster Longest Journey xxxi. 318 ‘For my part, I'm off’.

1964 J. Mitchell White Father viii. 191 Then he adjusted the microphone for Edward, picked up his trumpet, gave a downbeat and they were off, without any announcement.

a1966 ‘M. na Gopaleen’ Best of Myles (1977) 54 I been meself on a day's walk with the brother off out in Howth last March.

1976 J. Wilson Let's Pretend vii. 75 Once he's off, that's it... Like to carry him up to his cot, dear?

1978 J. Barfoot Abra xiv. 82 ‘Well, we're off then,’ she says.

1981 J. Sullivan Only Fools & Horses (1999) I. 1st Ser. Christmas Special 64 Grandad. I'm off out now, see you later. Del. Yeah tadda Grandad.

2001 C. Glazebrook Madolescents 172 I'm off to a limbo-dancing class straight from work.

e. colloquial. to be off (again): to be embarked on some (esp. habitual or obsessive) course of action; to begin speaking tiresomely or at length about a favourite subject.

ΚΠ

1815 S. J. Arnold Maid & Magpye i. ii. 23 Jul. This time..I am resolved to see to the bottom of the business. Ger. There! now she's off again! as if it followed, because a thing's mislaid, that it must be stolen.

1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. vi. 81 Jo was off again, making more droll revelations and committing still more fearful blunders.

1929 Radio Times 8 Nov. 388/3 Mr. Lance Sieveking..is off again. Was there ever such a one for experiments?

1987 A. Miller Timebends (1988) ii. 125 They were off, figuring the probable number of seats in the theater and dividing that into thirty million.

1993 Tatler July 124/1 He was an unstoppable fund of theatrical stories; ‘We who don the motley,’ was his usual opening and then he would be off, arms flailing, eyes flashing.

f. In colloquial phrases (originally with reference to Horse Racing). they're off (occasionally they are off): the race has started. to be off and running: to have started and be making good progress.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > continuing > progress, advance, or further continuance > progress or advance in an action [verb (intransitive)] > make good progress

to go or run on wheelsc1547

forge1769

to be off and running1823

to be well on one's (also the) way1900

to take or make strides1926

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [interjection] > start

they're off1823

1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 129 ‘Now they are off’, said of horse-racing, on those courses where jockeys are cheatingly permitted to make three, four, five, or more false starts.

1833 Mirror of Lit. 27 July 59/2 They are off! ‘No, no’—cries one jockey whose horse turned his tail to the others.

1846 ‘Sylvanus’ Pedestrian & Other Reminisc. xxiv. 227 The horses are paraded, the flag is dropped—‘they're off!’ is repeated by twenty thousand tongues.

1872 B. Jerrold London viii. 74 Clear the course!.. A flutter goes through the sea of heads on the Grand Stand... They're off!

1928 E. O'Neill Strange Interlude viii. 288 They're off!.. Navy and Washington are leading—Gordon's third.

1962 Washington Daily News 31 July 29/3 It took a gent who wasn't good enough to make it in the National League to get them off and running.

1974 G. Chapman et al. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1989) xliii. 307 And they're off..(the starting stall doors fly open; out come eight identically dressed Queen Victorias).

1994 Magnet May 20/2 The band was off and running but its momentum was impeded temporarily by Dwyer's departure from the ranks.

g. In bad condition; wrong, abnormal, odd; spec. (a) of a person or animal: not in good condition or form; off-colour, slightly unwell; (b) of food: stale, sour, contaminated; (c) of social behaviour: unacceptable; ill-mannered; esp. in (it's) a bit off.Not always clearly distinguishable from sense A. 5b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [adverb] > in poor physical condition

off1843

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [adverb] > in a wrong way, amiss

on missc1225

overthwarta1382

a-crookc1500

awrya1513

wide?1529

astray1535

across1559

bias1600

outa1641

beside the bridge1652

on the wrong side of the post1728

abroad1806

off1843

way off1882

off beam1941

up the boohai?1946

the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > [adverb] > unmannerly > unacceptably

off1916

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > expressions of disapproval [phrase]

shamea1352

I like that1720

to go up (also down) one1909

it's (just) not on1935

a bit off1966

the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > [adverb] > oddly

odd1603

oddlya1616

quirkishly1673

queerly1698

singularly1752

quarely1805

rumly1819

funnily1837

peculiarly1847

funny1852

rummily1891

quirkily1926

off1966

1843 Satirist & Sporting Chron. 4 Feb. 2/1 The Bench however convinced that the Shiner's story was all moonshine,..for the affair was, as our sporting correspondent says ‘off’.

1846 Spirit of Times 18 Apr. 91/1 He had endurance and speed enough to make a good race in any crowd, when ‘all right’, but then, he [sc. a horse] was liable to be oftener ‘off’ than otherwise.

1868 H. Woodruff & C. J. Foster Trotting Horse Amer. xxxvi. 300 When a trotter wins with great ease,..it is assumed, not that the loser was ‘off’, but that the winner is greatly superior.

1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin ix. 153 ‘S'pose I'd best be makin' a move, though,’ he added ruefully. ‘Bit orf, I calls it!’

1941 E. Bowen Look at all those Roses 68 ‘Your caller sounded to me a bit off.’ ‘Oh, Mrs. Massey's had bad news. She..didn't feel well.’

1952 R. Finlayson Schooner came to Atia 140 Meat that tasted ‘off’.

1966 ‘W. Cooper’ Mem. New Man ii. v. 155 It is just a teentsy-weentsy bit off, isn't it, darling, not to let you know he was coming.

1974 Listener 24 Jan. 102/1 Something was a little off with the mechanism, so the feeder-belt chewed up the baggage in transit.

1983 P. Marshall Praisesong for Widow III. ii. 170 I began feeling strange. Not sick or anything, just ‘off,’ not myself.

1990 Green Mag. Apr. 20/1 Fish, especially oily types have been said to taste ‘off’ after irradiation.

h. colloquial and regional. Short for off one's head, nut, rocker, etc.: not in one's right mind, crazy, mad.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adverb] > madly

woodlyc1000

madlyc1225

out of (by, from, of) wit or one's wit1470–85

bedlamlya1569

bedlamlike1576

distractedly1608

madling1608

monthly1611

brainsicklya1616

maddinglya1625

frenzilya1688

crazily1814

insanely1828

dementedly1844

off1866

hippomaniacally1876

pathologically1925

manically1927

dottily1937

feyly1959

kookily1968

nutso1980

1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire in Trans. Philol. Soc. 215 Aff, to be, to be deranged; as, ‘He wiz lang jummlet; bit he's aff athegeethir noo.’

1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 9 Apr. 3/2 Humor him as he was a little off.

1904 W. H. Smith Promoters i. 8 I've sometimes thought you were a trifle visionary, but I never considered you seriously off.

1928 ‘P. Grey’ Making of King 31 Ye're aff far eneuch a'ready—clean aff.

1975 B. Wood Killing Gift ii. i. 47 He was an old man, after all; perhaps he was just a little off... ‘No, gentlemen, I'm not senile.’

a. Expressing separation from attachment, contact, or position on: not on or touching; (so as to be) loose or separate; as in to break off, cast off, cut off, put off, shake off, take off, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > absence > [adverb]

offeOE

outena1200

hereout?c1225

wayc1275

orf1845

α.

eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. xxxv. 86 Smire mid hunige þæt þy þe raþor sio hryfing of fealle.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 30 Gyf þin swiðre hand þe aswice, aceorf hi of, & awurp hi fram þe.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 656 Ic wille..þæt þær ne be numen of na geld na gaule.

c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 28 He mid his sweorde hire þæt heafod of asloh.

c1300 St. John Baptist (Laud) 98 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 32 Þo is heued was of i-smite.

c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. v. 170 (MED) Clement þe Cobelere caste of his cloke.

c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 52 Y wole leie myn arme to be smyte of.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 30 He smote a knyght on the templis that hede and helme wente of to the erthe.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 641 Bot the king..with a wysk the hed of-strak.

?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) ii. xix. sig. O iij ^v To cut of from any Trapezium..what part therof ye list.

1568 W. Turner Herbal iii. 54 Yelowe scales: whiche with a light occasion fall of.

a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 449 He..of his claithis suddantlie hes done.

1646 J. Hall Horæ Vacivæ 67 The taking of the Plumets of a clocke to make it goe in the better Order.

β. lOE Canterbury Psalter: Canticles xvi. 8 Ego autem evaginato ab eo ipsius gladio amputavi caput eius : ic soðliches atæh from him his hagen sweord & achearf his heauod off.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 29 Ȝif þin hefet were offe.c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 78 Hwen þe rinde is offe..hwiteð hit utewið.c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xix. 7 To ȝeue a litil boke of forsakynge, and to leeue off [v.r. forsake; L. dimittere].a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 172^v In þe seuenþe ȝere..þay brennen offe þe brestes and þere fore þey were y-clepyd Amozones.?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 31 (MED) Do off þi schone of þi fete.c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 71 (MED) Of sum þay bate offe þe nese; of sum þe eres.1535 Bible (Coverdale) Song of Sol. v. 3 I haue put off my cote.1568 E. Tilney Brief Disc. Mariage (new ed.) sig. Civ^v [He] bit off his owne tongue.1637 Decree Starre-Chamber conc. Printing §30 sig. H2^v In the pulling off the knots.1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iii. 56 Good steel breaks short off, all gray.1733 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (ed. 9) I. 8 He took aff his bonnet.a1756 E. Haywood New Present (1771) 43 Let it stew..then strain it off.1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales II. 154 The ball..struck one of the metal buttons on the breast of my coat, and glanced off.1886 Manch. Examiner 22 Feb. 6/1 The entire surface of a country..divided off into farmsteads.1929 E. Bowen Last September I. v. 58 Hercules tore off the tips of the bland leaves which kept slapping against his forehead.1967 G. Greene Chagrin in Coll. Stories (1972) 49 She took off thick winter gloves with a wringing gesture which made me think of handkerchiefs wet with grief.2001 Daily Tel. 9 July 3/3 A boy of eight has had his arm sewn back on after it was bitten off by a shark.

b. In predicative use, or as object complement: = come off, cut off, fallen off, etc.; esp. = put off or taken off (as clothes, etc.); no longer on.

ΚΠ

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 29 (MED) Hu mahtest þu gan to þine aȝene liche ȝif þin hefet were offe?

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 7211 (MED) If hit [sc. Samson's hair] were of, I were not þon No strenger þen anoþer mon.

a1500 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 139 (MED) I wold hys hed were off by þe swere.

1530 W. Tyndale Pract. Prelates sig. Civ^v When the ringe was of, he commaunded to burye hir.

1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge ii. i. sig. C3^v (stage direct.) Enter Balurdo with a beard, halfe of, halfe on.

1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 223 With some of his Clothes on, and some off.

1797 Anecd. Ld. Chatham (ed. 6) I. xiii. 253 The blossom was off, and the fruit was set.

1868 Law Rep.: Common Pleas Div. 3 423 The horse had his bridle off and a nose-bag on.

1900 T. Dreiser Sister Carrie xv. 160 A bench-worker seen high aloft in some window, his coat off, his sleeves rolled up.

1984 I. Huggan Elizabeth Stories 58 Shoes off at the door! How many times have I told You?

2017 T. R. Schoeb & K. A. Eaton Gnotobiotics 271/3 When applied, this and subsequent tape layers should cover half of the previous tape layer (i.e., half on/ half off).

c. figurative.In quot. 1710 short for ‘off their hands’.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [adverb]

off1710

?1476 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 604 If it so be that a-geyn my wyll it come of yow that I be cast off fro yowr seruyse and not wyllyngly by my desert.

1576 A. Fleming tr. Erasmus in Panoplie Epist. 356 Let us shake off this slouthfulnesse.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 96 Casteng aff al courtlie decore.

a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxiv. 75 Cast of thy comfort.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxiii. 204 The Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and Samuel, to the time of Saul, describe the acts of Gods people, till the time they cast off Gods yoke, and called for a King.

1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 248. ⁋8 The common Design of Parents is to get their Girls off as well as they can.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 105. ¶3 Will. laught this off at first as well as he could.

1777 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip II I. vii. 184 The people threw off the reserve which they had hitherto maintained.

1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights I. ix. 181 Edgar must shake off his antipathy, and tolerate him, at least.

1900 G. Ade Fables in Slang 56 One Day he ran away with a Girl who waited on the Table at his Boarding House, and his Parents Cast him Off.

1944 L. MacNeice Christopher Columbus i. 57 They have given me all that I asked—Let Talavera laugh that off if he can.

1993 Time 4 Jan. 59/1 The Poles threw off communism in 1989, but only now do they get to tut-tut about boudoir shenanigans among high-level politicians.

d. Theatre. Short for offstage adv. Also in extended use.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > stage > [adverb] > off stage

off1774

offstage1861

1774 O. Goldsmith Retaliation 101 On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting, 'Twas only that, when he was off, he was acting.

1775 T. Campbell Diary 4 Mar. (1947) 44 The players..stood their ground for a long time—but were at length hissed off.

1775 T. Campbell Diary 4 Mar. (1947) 44 Mr. Vernon attempted to speak, but he w^ḍ not be heared—still the cry was off, off.

1805 T. Dibdin in G. Colman John Bull (ed. 2) Prol. p. i To whom, thus midway placed, I say, be kind, John Bull before, Oh, spare John Bull behind (pointing off.).

1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. II. 255 ‘But you must take care you don't knock a wing down...’ ‘I shall fall with my head “off”, and then I can't do any harm.’

?1863 T. Taylor Ticket-of-leave Man i. 7 (stage direct.) The Bellevue Tea Gardens,..ornamental orchestra and concert room... Music heard off.

1909 ‘I. Hay’ Man's Man vi. 83 Portentous trampings ‘off’ announced the return of the glee~party.

1923 Referee 12 Aug. 3/3 The leopardess..was heard to roar a good deal ‘off’,..making her only appearance [on the stage]—in a cage.

1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk i. 27 Lady Elizabeth Mulhammer's voice off: Just open that case, I want something out of it.

1993 Village Voice (N.Y.) 20 Apr. 93/5 He's more playfully resourceful at making his story happen, while the characters are telling it to us, through phones, answering machines, doorbells, and assorted noises off.

e. colloquial. Of an item of (esp. restaurant) food: deleted from the menu; no longer available.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > meal > menu > [adverb]

off1902

on1949

1870 D. J. Kirwan Palace & Hovel x. 154 On ‘off’ days they have soup and thick gruel for breakfast.]

1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang V. 89/2 ‘Chops is hoff’ =‘there are no more chops to-day’.

1933 New Statesman 18 Mar. 331/2 All the plats du jour were ‘off’ and we bawled out the head waiter.

1953 ‘M. Innes’ Christmas at Candleshoe ii. 24 The celerity with which the less unpalatable dishes are prone to be ‘off’ in English hotels.

1966 N. Freeling Dresden Green ii. 123 Sorry sir, said the waitress in the teashop, the pudding's off. We can do you a nice ice-cream though.

1974 D. Chantler Man who Followed ii. 60 Tell the waiters..the Tutti-Frutti is off.

1993 V. Sage Mirror for Larks 42 Deaf-Aid said the steak was off.

a. So as to exhaust or finish; so as to leave none; to the end; entirely, completely, to a finish; as to clear off, drink off, finish off, pay off, polish off, work off, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [adverb] > to the end

offeOE

awayOE

outc1175

the world > action or operation > completing > [adverb]

offc1440

consummatively1614

completively1651

perfectively1818

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) ii. v Hwær hie..wæteres [hæfden] þæt hie mehten him þurst of adrincan.

OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 275 Ebibo, ic of adrince.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15118 To wasshenn offe þeȝȝre lic.

c1440 (?a1400) St. John Evangelist (Thornton) 228 in G. G. Perry Relig. Pieces in Prose & Verse (1914) 104 (MED) Þou..saynede þe coppe owtely and suppede it off syne.

1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 47 Socrates..compelled of malicious Iudges to take y^e Cup,..and so to drink it off.

1660 A. Marvell Let. 17 Nov. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 2 Some seauenteen shipps to be payd of.

1732 J. Swift (title) A proposal to pay off the debt of the nation.

1861 Temple Bar 3 141 Read the Times..and get off by heart that portion..devoted to the news of the money-market.

1890 G. A. Smith Bk. Isaiah II. xii. 202 We do not..kill them off by gladiatorial combats.

1900 Westm. Gaz. 13 Dec. 2/3 What is known amongst breeders as ‘feeding off’ for table poultry is a thriving industry.

1992 I. Banks Crow Road xi. 267 I polished off the eclair..and started eyeing up a Danish pastry.

2000 Marie Claire (Johannesburg) Oct. 142/3 This look can be achieved by blowdrying the hair with a flat paddle brush and finished off with a straightening iron.

†b. Finished, worked off; done with work. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > completing > [adverb] > completed

througha1616

off1683

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. Dict. 385 A Press-man usually says, ‘I am off’, meaning he has Wrought off his Token, his Heap, his Form.

1707 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 26 Aug. (1886) II. 36 When ye Text of Livy is off I will consider.

c. spec. coarse slang. To the point of orgasm, esp. ejaculation.For bring, jack, jerk, pull, suck, toss, wank, whack off, etc.: see the first element.

ΚΠ

1865 ‘Philocomus’ Love Feast vi. 61 I'll jerk off, thinking of thee.

1879 Harlequin Prince Cherrytop 9 To the privy I would repair, And toss it off in the basin there.

1909 J. Joyce Let. 20 Dec. in Sel. Lett. (1975) 191 Do you frig yourself off first?

1943 P. Larkin Let. 13 Aug. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 62 So I piss about spending money,..tossing myself off (to put it crudely), and listening to Those Awful Blaring Jazz Things.

1998 G. Linehan & A. Mathews Speed3 (penultimate draft) in Father Ted (1999) 292/2 I'm having to yank meself off round the clock 'cause I'm not getting any proper sex with girls.

a. So as to interrupt continuity or cause discontinuance, as in to break off, cut off, declare off, leave off, switch off, turn off, etc.

ΚΠ

α.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 377 Leve of [L Desiste], Alwyn, wiþ þy good wille.

a1425 (?a1400) Bk. Priue Counseling in P. Hodgson Cloud of Unknowing (1944) 171 (MED) It is speedful sumtyme to leue of þi corious worching in þi wittes.

1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 174 Is nane sa gude as leif of, and mak na mair stryfe.

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. v. sig. Dd4 His deuotion..Breaking of.

β. 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 31^v It will soone wax barraine, and leave off fruit bearing.1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 43 Upon Saturday..they break off worke sooner by an houre.1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 350 She was the occasion of my Ruin, for she had persuaded me to go on, when I would have left off.1818 Sporting Mag. 3 91 The match went off, and all bets were declared void.1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) II. 69 The Duke has declared off, and the wounded lover does not seem to be anxious to make his proposals of marriage.1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. xx. 309 He turned off the gas, and kissed the picture in the dark.1892 Bookman Oct. 27/2 Zola began by being an idealist. He has not left off being one.1934 F. S. Fitzgerald Tender is Night i. xxiii. 115 Claude, who was checking stock, broke off his work..to make Abe a pick-me-up.1970 D. Brown Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee vi. 132 Their grand strategy soon became apparent—..cut off supplies for Carrington's troops, isolate them, and attack.1993 N.Y. Times 13 Apr. a12/1 The authorities cut off water and electricity to the cellblock.

b. Discontinued, stopped, given up; no longer in operation or going on.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > ceasing > [adverb]

offa1625

a1625 J. Fletcher et al. Bloody Brother (1639) I. i. sig. C3 Those desires are off; Frayle thoughts.

1720 Amer. Weekly Mercury 8 Dec. 2/2 The Bargain made by the three Quakers for that Province is off, the Lords Justice having interposed.

1752 C. Lennox Female Quixote i. v His illness having been only a violent head-ache,..being now quite off.

1760 R. Heber Horse Matches ix. p. xxv Match off, by consent.

1785 Mrs. Fletcher in Wesley's Serm. lvii iii. 12, in Wks. (1811) IX. 36 His fever seemed quite off.

1808 Ann. 10th. Congress I. Sess. 181 If our embargo was off we should have more trade than would be enjoyed by us, if all the world were at piece.

1846 M. A. Richardson Local Historian's Table Bk. Hist. Div. V. v. 172 The boiler had been ‘off’ for two or three days.

1882 Daily News 15 Aug. 2/1 He understood that the whole negotiation was now off.

1901 Scotsman 12 Mar. 5/4 When football is ‘off’ and cricket not yet ‘on’.

1971 New Scientist 7 Jan. 18/1 The modems are silent... Power has been off for half an hour.

1989 Economist 25 Mar. 78/1 So the referendum is off, of indefinitely postponed.

c. Of a person: disengaged (from), done with, no longer committed to.Now rare except in proverbial phrase to be off with the old love (before one is on with the new) and variants (the ‘old song’ frequently said to be its source has not been traced).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > separation or isolation > [adverb] > disengaged or done with

off1710

1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 223. ⁋ 5 A Youth married under Fourteen Years old may be off if he pleases when he comes to that Age.

a1733 Orpheus Caledonius i I'm aff with Wit.

1801 M. Edgeworth Belinda I. x. 306 I can give you my advice gratis, in the formula of an old Scotch song—‘'Tis good to be merry and wise, 'Tis good to be honest and true, 'Tis good to be off with the old love, Before you are on with the new.’

1847 J. J. Ruskin 8 Sept. in M. Lutyens Ruskins & Grays (1972) vi. 54 You..allowed yourself to be with E in a Way which if not off the other, was in my eye wrong.

1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel III. lix. 201 She had thought herself to be off with the old love before she was on with the new.

1930 E. H. Young Miss Mole 208 But it's no good being off with the old love before you are on with the new.

1962 H. D. Lewis Freedom & Hist. v. 106 To answer effectively..required a complete departure from the romantic individualism in which Rousseau had been nurtured... But he was loath to be off with the old love, and his early individualism thus persists in his more mature thought.

d. Away or free from one's work, school, service, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > [adverb] > off-duty or on leave

off-duty1776

on leave1811

off1853

1853 Observer 4 Dec. 5/5 Johnstone, the foreman engineer, said to me the morning of the accident, ‘You have not had a day off with this engine lately’.

1861 J. O'Neil Diary 1 Apr. in J. Burnett Useful Toil (1974) i. 78 At Low Moor there is a great many off. There is above a hundred looms standing.

1882 J. D. McCabe New York 384 Then begins five hours' patrol..after which he is ‘off’.

1883 B. Harte In Carquinez Woods ii. 51 It has been already intimated that it was his ‘day off’.

1885 A. Daly in A. Nicoll Hist. Eng. Drama 1660–1900 (1959) V. 333 (title of play) A night off; or, a page from Balzac.

1916 B. Ruck Girls at his Billet xviii. 242 I am sure your auntie..would be quite agreeable to letting us have the afternoon off for the ceremony.

1940 F. Sargeson Man & Wife (1944) 21 Of course Sally wasn't off for long. And they gave her a rise.

1968 Billboard 13 Jan. 38/2 Johnson returned to the stage after a year off to recover from injuries sustained in an auto accident.

1985 E. Leonard Glitz viii. 128 It was Anne-Marie's afternoon off.

2001 Adventure Trav. July 76/2 Break away from..‘comfort working’, where you kid yourself you're too important to be able to take time off.

e. to be off sick: to be absent from work, school, etc., owing to illness.

ΚΠ

1912 A. B. Paine Mark Twain II. cix Every boy has played off sick to escape school.]

1917 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 25 675 She suffered from severe headaches and had been off sick ten days.

1964 G. L. Cohen What's Wrong with Hospitals? i. 22 Working people still talk about ‘going on the Panel’ when they're off sick, and don't see why they should use another term.

1985 Guardian (Nexis) 23 Oct. One man is still off sick, and two others are suspected of having had the disease.

2000 A. Bourdain Kitchen Confid. (2001) 90 He's the reason I am never off sick, go to sleep every night running tomorrow's prep lists and menus through my mind.

a. At a distance; distant (in space or time); away; (also) not on target. Often after a statement of the distance; also in far off or (now rare) afar off.Frequently preceding another adverbial expression of location, as off to the side.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adverb]

wideOE

awaya1375

upon farc1380

offc1400

aferroma1425

at length?1611

in distans1645

the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adverb] > at or to a distance

ferrenc888

farc900

longOE

afarc1300

yond13..

on length1340

alonga1382

adreigha1393

on dreicha1400

afar offc1400

far-aboutc1450

alengtha1500

distantlya1500

remote1589

remotely1609

yferrea1643

out of his (her, its, etc.) way1650

adistance1807

away1818

way1833

way off1836

way out1840

α.

c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 3920 (MED) Of Perce Ich am, fer of by est.

c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 213 One come and sayd that she was ix myle of.

a1500 Disciplina Clericalis in Western Reserve Univ. Bull. (1919) 22 66 (MED) He left to hym no friend..fled fer of.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xxvi. f. xxxix Peter folowed hym a farre of [so 16th c. vv., 1611 off].

β. 1573 J. Sanford tr. L. Guicciardini Hours Recreat. (1576) 213 Greete a redde man and a bearded woman three myles off.1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 610 A little off runneth a River.a1625 J. Fletcher Humorous Lieut. i. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) 124/2 No; beleeve sir, I would have him fight, but not so far off from me.1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 14 We see the Cape or extreame point of Africk 12 leagues off.1671 R. Montague in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 501 These are projects a great way off.1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xv. xii. 294 A Street or two off . 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. i. 12 I think, thine own band lies as far off as York.1824 S. Ferrier Inheritance (1882) I. xviii There's a barber's bairn twa doors aff that wad maybe be glad o' them.1874 G. W. Dasent Half a Life II. 173 We shall meet at Oxford in October, not much more than a month off.1889 Testimony Alleged Election Outrages Texas (U.S. Senate, 50th Congr., 2nd Sess.) 717 Q. Is Watts's house on the main road?—A. No; it is off to the side.1897 H. Caine Christian i. xi. 50 Glory stood off from the looking-glass and looked.1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear ii. v. 263 Chester Wilcox lived..about five miles off in an adjacent valley.1977 H. Kaplan Damascus Cover (1978) iv. 33 On the pistol range Ari discovered..that his aim was way off.1988 Which? June 267/2 The benefits are..some years off.1999 R. Tremain Music & Silence (2000) ii. 211 They have a destination and it is not far off.2004 Trail May 105/1 Ignore a stile and path off to the left, keeping to the right of a wire fence.

b. figurative. Distant or remote in fact, nature, character, feeling, thought, etc.; far from what is true, accurate, or likely to be the case.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [adverb] > far or very different from

far1534

offa1555

a1555 N. Ridley Wks. (1841) 173 So far off is it that they do confirm this opinion of transubstantiation, that [etc.].

?1571 tr. G. Buchanan Detectioun Marie Quene of Scottes sig. Biiij So far was it of that hys lodging and thynges..was prouidit for him..that he found nat any ane token toward him of a freindly minde.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. ii. 60 That's off, that's off.

a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 280 Cæsar..was altogether off from thinking it probable.

1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 148 This, I say, was only a Rumour... But it was not so far off from being a Reality, as it has been thought.

1809 Deb. Congr. U.S. 26 Jan. (1853) 1185 Mr W[illiams] hoped these [expenditures] were not intended to enforce the embargo. If they were, he was entirely off.

1887 Presbyterian Banner (U.S.) Oct. The leader..is not merely off on the subject of future probation, but also with regard to the Lord's day.

1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant xvi. 231 I may be off in sizing this thing up, because it's a little out of my line.

1930 Publishers' Weekly 8 Feb. 714/1 In proportion to its [sc. Baltimore's] population and wealth, its book sales are away off.

1994 Brit. Bike Mag. Mar. 62/1 I'm at a loss now,..perhaps I'm way off in assuming carburation.

c. Nautical. At a distance from the land; offshore.

ΚΠ

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. i. 76 The remnant Northward lying off from Trent.

1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World iii. 44 In the morning we descryed a Sail off at Sea.

1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 26 I lay off at an Anchor.

1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Off When a ship is beating to windward, so that by one board she approaches towards the shore, and by the other sails out to sea-ward, she is said to stand off and on shore, alternately.

1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxix. 327 Ten or a dozen men, with their trowsers rolled up, were constantly going, back and forth, from the platform to the boat, which was kept off where she would just float.

a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) x. 226 Standing southerly off into sea the rest of that day and the night following, with a fresh gale of wind, in the morning we found ourselves embayed with a mighty headland.

1990 T. Cunliffe Easy on Helm xv. 126 Some berths, on some occasions, will be impossible to enter directly under sail... Either you forget the whole thing, or you anchor off and warp in.

a. In the way of abatement, diminution, disappearance, or decay, etc.; as in to fall off, cool off, go off, wear off, etc.

ΚΠ

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ii. 107 Loue cooles, friendship fals off, brothers diuide.

1632 in S. R. Gardiner Rep. Cases Star Chamber & High Comm. (1886) 121 Judgment was stayed and the Costes taken off.

1797 Monthly Mag. 3 501 Out of every thousand men, 28 die off annually.

1826 Examiner 695/1 The novelty had gone off a little.

1862 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. i. ii. 41 They'll cool off when they come to understand.

1893 National Observer 7 Oct. 536/1 The place seemed to have gone off a good deal.

1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers i. 16 But although he was very steady at work, his wages fell off.

1964 I. Murdoch Italian Girl i. v. 67 The first shock seemed now to have worn off, the horror was dulled.

1989 Independent 30 Nov. 4 The steep increase in infections which we saw in 1988 has plateaued off.

2001 Total DVD Feb. 127/2 The galaxy of extras on the disc makes it worth checking out, even if the novelty of the movie itself has worn off.

b. By way of a discount or reduction in price (of a specified amount). Cf. sense B. 5.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > low price or rate > low price [preposition] > reduced by specified amount

off1881

society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > low price or rate > [adverb] > to or at reduced price > by specified amount

off1881

1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel II. xxxi. 103 I made the fellow give me twenty per cent. off.

1965 New Statesman 9 Apr. 562/1 Don't be put off by the fact that both packets also say ‘3d off’.

1968 ‘J. le Carré’ Small Town in Germany v. 71 Don't matter what you fancy: radios, dish-washers, cars; he'll get you a bit off, like.

1997 H. H. Tan Foreign Bodies (1998) xvi. 149 They're selling a laser-disc player, thirty per cent off.

c. Of stocks, shares, etc.: down or lower in value or price (by a specified amount, esp. a number of points).

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adverb] > lower in price or value

below par1726

off1929

1929 Times 30 Oct. 14/1 Duke Power ‘opened’ at 130 off 39½ points, Newhaven Railway at 90 off 18.

1931 Daily Express 21 Sept. 14/4 Japanese bonds were only slightly off.

1964 Financial Times 12 Mar. 21/5 Belfast Ropework were 6d off to 35s 6d.

1977 Times 19 Nov. 17/5 By the close the FT Index was just 0·5 off at 480·5.

1994 Daily Tel. 22 June 26/7 The Dow closed off almost 34 points at 3708.29.

7. Opening or turning out from; adjacent, adjoining. Cf. sense B. 8.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb] > adjacently > to that

thereuponc1275

off1852

1852 M. S. Turner Let. Aug. in R. Stuart et al. Stuart Lett. (1961) I. 389 Well, we have two rooms, as large as your green room—& a shed room off, that is soaked with water when it rains.

1970 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird ii. 20 My room had a balcony and a bathroom off.

1991 J. Neel Death of Partner 96 There's a nice little flatlet on the second floor. Bathroom, bedroom with double bed, kitchen off.

II. Phrases and idiomatic uses.

8. With main verb (as come, go, take, etc.) implied. Also with with preceding a noun phrase (as object of the implied transitive verb).

a. Usually with modal auxiliary. See also off v. (in various senses).

ΚΠ

eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxv. 239 Ac ðonne hwa on ða leasunga befehð, ðonne ne mæg he of, ac sceal ðonne niede ðencean hu he hie gelicettan mæge.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 2535 Awei he warp his gode breond & of mid þere burne.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 443 (MED) He ȝaf dome..þat his heed schulde of.

c1450 (c1398) in C. Horstmann Sammlung Altengl. Legenden (1878) 187 (MED) Hire hede shalle ofe fulle sekyrly To morne.

c1475 Mankind (1969) 437 (MED) Wyll ȝe of wyth hys hede!

1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies ii. 218/2 Most part of them paint their bodies,..which colour wil not off.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) ii. iii. 64 Ile off, But first, Ile do my errand.

1617 B. Rich Irish Hubbub (1623) 24 He that pledgeth must likewise off with his cap.

1625 R. Jobson Pilgrimes II. vii. 923 We made an offer to shoot, but the Peece would not off.

1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 111 If hee returned without victory, hee knew his head should off.

1646 N. Lockyer Serm. 19 I cannot hand off nor heart off.

1753 S. Foote Englishman in Paris ii. 43 We'll off in a Post-Chaise directly.

1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped iii. 24 I'll aff and see the session clerk.

1960 J. Barth Sot-weed Factor ii. xii. 236 Give him ten pound and a fortnight to idle, he'll off to the shop for a great French shag and a ha'peck of powder.

1994 R. Wallace Time's Fancy 9 Who'll off to market, singing cows, cows?

b. In imperative phrases. off! = stand off! be off! off with (something): take off (something). off (with you)!: go away! Cf off v. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [interjection]

begonec1370

hencec1390

avauntc1485

vaunt1598

off1717

twenty-three1930

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [phrase]

here lies our way1609

go scrape!1611

off (with you)!1809

on your way1865

twenty-three skidoo1926

(get) on your bike1980

c1475 Mankind (1969) 88 (MED) Anon of wyth yowr clothes.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. vi. 74 Off with his sonne Georges head.

a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. i. 152 Off with't while 'tis vendible.

a1631 J. Donne Poems (1669) 98 Off with that wyerie Coronet and shew The haiery Diadem which on your head doth grow.

1717 E. Smith Phædra & Hippolytus v. 54 Off, or I fly for ever from thy sight.

1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. ii. vii. 246 Off with you! and do not return.

1822 Ld. Byron Vision of Judgm. xciii Some cried ‘Off, off!’ As at a farce.

1877 C. H. Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 402 Off with your caps and throw them up and cry ‘Hurrah!’

1955 D. Eden Darling Clementine (1959) 76 Now off to bed with you and no more calling out.

1991 G. Eisman tr. S. Ousmane Niiwam & Taaw 12 ‘Come on, off with you,’ Malan the conductor shouted at them.

c. In imperative phrases, with keep or take implied, as fingers, mitts, paws, (etc.) off! Earliest in hands off!: see hands off int.paws off, Pompey!: see paw n.¹ 2c.

ΚΠ

a1593 C. Marlowe Massacre at Paris (c1600) sig. B8 Hands of good fellow, I will be his baile.

1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. D^v Gods pittikins, hands off sir, heers my Lord.

1760 A. Murphy Way to keep Him 4 Will. Come and kiss me, you jade, come and kiss me. Muslin. Paws off, Cæsar.

1871 C. M. Yonge Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe i. 8 Mustn't touch, my dear, only look; paws off.

1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island iii. xiv. 114 ‘Hands off!’ cried Silver, leaping back a yard.

1967 T. Hughes Wodwo ii. 127 Girl: Put them down. Ripley: Fingers off.

1998 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 20 July 1 c In the meantime, mitts off the lemon drops; they're mine.

†9. (either) off or on: (either) one way or another, in any way. neither off nor on: without reference, irrelevant (to); neither here nor there. See also off and on adv. Obsolete (in later use Scottish).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > relevance or pertinence > [phrase] > irrelevant

of purpose (also (out) of (a) (set) purpose)a1382

wide of (also from) the mark1536

neither off nor on1549

from the purpose1561

from (also out of) the bias1600

from the matter1658

(off) at, in, upon a tangent1825

1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 6th Serm. sig. Ti^v It was neyther of nor on, to that that Paule say.

1570 Mariage Witte & Sci. iv. i. sig. Di In good earnest Madam, speake of or on, Shal we speede at your hand, or shall we begone.

1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 826 Than chuse the to vse the Be vs or sic as ȝone Say sone now, have done now; Mak outher off or on.

1861 J. Barr Poems 170 Sae I'll be aff or on wi' her And that this very nicht.

10. Preceded by better, worse, badly, comfortably, etc.: situated in a specified way, as regards wealth, material goods, or other personal considerations; circumstanced or conditioned in the manner described. Also after how (as ‘how are they off?’, ‘how are you off for (something)’). Frequently (and earliest) in well off adv. See also bad off at bad adv. 2, badly off at badly adv. 2c, better off adv., worse off adv. [Probably from to come off at come v. Phrasal verbs 1: just as a person who has ‘come well out’ of a doubtful affair is said to be ‘well out’ of it, so a person who has ‘come well off’ from (or in) a struggle may be said to be ‘well off’; compare especially quots. 1733, 1740, 1762. The most common use may be explained as ‘that has come off, or fared (well or ill)’, in the battle of life.]

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > circumstance or circumstances > [adverb] > circumstanced or conditioned

off1715

1715 C. Johnson Country Lasses iv. 55 An ill-natur'd old Puppy, to engage a Man in a Quarrel too—However I think I am pretty well off; this is much better than the Discipline of Towser and the Ditch.

1733 J. Swift Apol. 55 Since I 'scap'd being made a scoff, I think I'm very fairly off.

1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 251 Let me sit down, Miss, anywhere..for I have been sadly off.

1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 98 Marriage is at present so much out of fashion, that a lady is very well off, who can get any husband at all.

1776 C. Lee in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) II. 485 How are you off in the article of intrenching tools?

1845 J. B. Mozley Laud in Ess. (1892) I. 179 The clergy..had lost the advantages of obits [etc.], and were miserably off.

1851 H. Mayo On Truths Pop. Superstit. (ed. 2) 186 The earth is the best off.

1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iv. xii. 265 I am in another way of business. And I am rather better off.

1873 M. Oliphant Innocent III. xxi. 351 He was not well enough off to marry.

1884 H. Spencer in Contemp. Rev. June 772 While to the well-off the exaction means loss of luxuries, to the ill-off it means loss of necessaries.

1884 G. Allen Philistia III. 161 They are very badly off, poor people.

1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xcvi. 508 She knew that they were comfortably off.

1956 A. J. Cronin Crusader's Tomb 184 If you are worse off than I, then you are badly off indeed.

1978 T. Murphy Crucial Week in Life Grocer's Assistant i. 16 How are you off for tea?

2001 Independent 12 July i. 3/1 An annual assessment of the capital's wealth has revealed that Londoners..are no better off than the rest of the nation.

11. Indicating precedence in time, as bang off, right off, straight off: straightaway, forthwith, immediately (see bang v.¹ 8d, right adv. 3b, straight adj. 2c). first off, next off: first, next, in sequence (see first adj., adv., and n.² Phrases 2g, next adj., adv., and n. Compounds 3).

12. Used with a preceding numeral to represent a quantity in production or manufacture, or an item or number of items so produced. Usually as one off: see one-off n. Cf. once-off adj. and n. at once adv., conj., adj., and n. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > only one > [adverb] > once

onceOE

onefold?a1804

off1934

1934 Proc. Inst. Brit. Foundrymen 26 552 A splendid one-off pattern can be swept up in very little time.

1935 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 39 41 One off per machine does not give us much opportunity for reducing production costs.

1947 J. G. Crowther & R. Whiddington Sci. at War 49 Manufacturers found it very difficult to give up mass production, in order to make the 200 or so sets ‘off’.

1954 Archit. Rev. 116 411/2 Hills built the first part of Cheshunt as a ‘one off’ job, with no guarantees of further business, though of course it was intended to be the first of a line.

1970 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 30 Oct. 205/2 Without barrier coats mould breakdown can start after 60 units off.

1973 Physics Bull. Apr. 238/2 (advt.) Kienzle printers. 6 off, surplus to manufacturing requirements.

2002 P. Clabburn Shawls (ed. 2) 5 (caption) A superb shawl, probably a one off, named ‘the Bishop's wife's shawl’ at Carrow House.

III. Followed by prepositions, in all senses.

13.

a. Followed by from.

ΚΠ

c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 10 (MED) An hospitall howse a litill lenger of from the chirche..he began to edifie.

c1475 tr. Henri de Mondeville Surgery (Wellcome) f.149^v (MED) Þe roller schal be first wounden twoward þe body..wyndynge þe roller vp to þe parties þat ben aboute wel fer of from þe wounde.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. viii. f. x^v A good waye off from them.

1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth viii. sig. D.iv Stand or syt a good waye of from the fyre.

1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World v. 109 The wind is commonly off from the Land.

1757 E. Perronet Mitre (new ed.) i. cclxxv. 60 For she's not farther off from home, Than home is far from her.

1871 T. Carlyle in J. W. Carlyle Lett. & Memorials (1883) III. 200 She wished to be off from the July bargain.

1904 W. H. Smith Promoters i. ii Just as surely as you can take that bottle off from the table.

1940 H. J. Grossman Guide to Wines, Spirits & Beers ix. 110 When all the wine is drawn off from the butts in the uppermost tier, new butts of fresh wine..replace the empty casks.

1992 Which? Aug. 434/2 Internal door leading off from the living-room doesn't have safety glass.

b. Followed by of. In later use colloquial (nonstandard) and regional. Cf. offa prep., offen prep.

ΚΠ

?c1450 in G. Müller Aus Mittelengl. Medizintexten (1929) 116 (MED) Take a sponfull of þe licour..of of þe fyir and sette it in good place tyl þat it be ny colde, soo as þou mayst suffryn to holdyn þer-in þin hand.

1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) vi. f. 76 His eye went neuer off of hir.

1584 R. Norman tr. C. Antoniszoon Safegard of Sailers f. 49 The souther head of the Goodwin [sands] and the point at Douer, lie the one off of the other southwest and northeast.

1589 ‘M. Marprelate’ Iust Censure & Reproofe sig. C.iiij^v To deale in such a suite, were to rebell against her Majestie, to pull the crowne off of her head,..and to shake off all authoritie.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) ii. i. 98 A fall off of [1594 Falling off on] a Tree.

1667 A. Marvell Let. 23 Nov. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 61 The Lords and we can not yet get of the difficultyes risen betwixt us.

1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 49 About a furlong off of the Porters Lodge.

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 181 We were some three Leagues off of Sannas.

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 306. ⁋6 I could not keep my Eyes off of her.

1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 281 I had perswaded him off of that.

1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. xiii. 132 Biting my lip, [was to indicate] Get off of that, as fast as possible.

1775 P. Oliver in T. Hutchinson's Diary 7 Dec. I. 581 A Rebell Pirate..taken..off of Cape Ann.

a1805 in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1894) V. ix. 106/2 Aff o the weather [read wether] he took the skin, An rowt his bonny lady in.

1824 J. Wight Mornings at Bow St. 21 Two young men..were charged by a watchman with having ‘bother'd him on his bate,’ and refused to ‘go along off of it when he tould 'em.’

1843 T. C. Haliburton Attaché II. xii. 210 The groom has stole her oats, forgot to give her water, and let her make a supper sometimes off of her nasty, mouldy, filthy beddin'.

1868 J. Hartley Clock Almanack in Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. (1895) 5 Oct. He connot forshame To lift up his een off o' th' graand.

1875 P. Brooks New Starts in Life viii. 129 If you could have filled his pockets with gold, and feasted his hunger off of silver dishes.

1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn vi. 45 I'd borrow two or three dollars off of the judge for him.

1909 G. Greig Mains's Wooin' 6 He's swallowed the dictionar', min, an's tryin' to get 'er aff o's stammack.

a1922 T. S. Eliot Waste Land Drafts (1971) 5 The reputation the place gets, off of a few barflies.

1962 F. Norman Guntz i. 15 I got hold of this very very old typewriter off of a friend of mine.

1974 J. Stubbs Painted Face xxiii. 284 Get off of me, will you, sir?

1990 B. Roche Poor Beast in Rain ii. i. 44 I was hangin' around here all the time, gettin' sweet nothin' off of you.

B. prep.

I. Of motion or direction.

a. Of removal from a position on, attached to, or in contact with (anything): away from, down from, up from, so as no longer to lie, rest, or lean on.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > direction > in the direction of [preposition] > away from

offeOE

fromwardsc1000

from offlOE

frowardsc1175

fromward?c1225

α.

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 797 Her Romane..hine of his setle afliemdon.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Se kyng alihte dune of his hors.

c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 66 Crist..niðer asteah of heofenum.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 201 We habbeð don of us þe ealde man.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 15375 Heo..droh of hire uingre an of hire ringe.

c1330 Gregorius (Auch.) (1914) 744 (MED) Þe chaunber dore of hokes sche hent.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 208^v Leues falleþ of trees in wynter tyme.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 15024 (MED) Bifor þair king þe childer kest branches þai brack of bogh.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 608 Whan he sawe sir Trystram, he alyght adowne of his horse.

a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) 2798 Of his hors he felle vppon the playn.

1519 in J. S. Clouston Rec. Earldom of Orkney (1914) 94 That the nichtbouris..sall keip thair guidis af the ground of Sabay.

1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 321 Syne af his hors amang thame fell doun deid.

1575 in J. Fullarton Rec. Burgh Prestwick (1834) 76 Scho to be benneist & scurgit af the towne.

c1580 ( tr. Bk. Alexander (1925) I. i. 1221 All suddanly the hede can [he] tak Baith of the knycht and of the steid.

1642 tr. J. Perkins Profitable Bk. iii. §209. 93 To deliver seisin of land by force off a feoffment, is to remove all persons of the land.

1650 J. Nicoll Diary (1836) 14 To convoy his heid af the prick quhairon it was set.

1665 A. Marvell Let. 22 Oct. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 41 Our nauy is speeding to chase the Dutch again of our Seas.

1692 in J. D. Marwick Rec. Convent. Royal Burghs Scotl. (1880) IV. 663 The heavie burdenes..made sixteen families..remove of the place..being brock.

β. ?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 6 Foure graynes of þe same tree þat his fader ete þe appel off.1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) ii. 428 Then off his hand the brydill yhed.c1550 Clariodus (1830) iii. 2280 [Her] aff the land thay gart promit to go.1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 89 His Kerchefe was pulled off his head.a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. i. 70 How she waded through the durt to plucke him off me. 1670 J. Narborough in Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) i. 84 And gathered several green Apples off the Trees.1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 160. ¶7 Take thine Eyes off the Bridge, said he.1743 H. Walpole Lett. (1857) I. 226 A man falling off a ladder.1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. xii. 261 I daresay he wad gar them keep hands aff me.1873 C. Kingsley Prose Idylls 129 The sheep have been driven off the land below.1881 J. F. T. Keane Six Months in Meccah vi. 158 I came across an object that nearly brought me off my beast.1902 R. Bagot Donna Diana xiii. 139 Leaving his housekeeper to clear away the empty plates and dishes and sweep the breadcrumbs off the wine-stained table cloth.1955 E. Bowen World of Love vi. 109 He had taken the chimney off the low-burning oil lamp.1989 Evening Tel. & Post (Dundee) 26 May 11 200 men had escaped off the rig.

b. figurative. From resting, depending, determining, etc., upon; as off one's hands (see hand n. Phrases 1h(a)), off one's head (see head n.¹ Phrases 1h), etc.

ΚΠ

α.

c1400 J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 291 Vnderstond, ȝe kingis; and schaak of ȝou rudenesse, ȝe þat jugen londis.

c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) i. iv. §10 To put our men af their errour.

β. 1533 Rec. Dumfries Burgh Court in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue f. 136^v, at Of Cum doun off jugement owt of the bar.a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) ii. iii. 233 Thou hast a sonne shall take this disgrace off me. 1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. i. 52 If we took such Foals off their Dams the first Week they were dropt.1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iv. ii. 187 He hath taken several Poor off our hands. 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. i. ii. 16 An honest jockey who would take it [sc. my mule] off my hands.1889 ‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob (1891) 152 That woman must be going off her head.1894 A. Conan Doyle Mem. Sherlock Holmes 215 I have been off my head ever since the blow fell.1903 A. H. Lewis Boss xix. 264 She's off her trolley. She toins sick; an' in a week she croaks.1930 Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Va.) 2 Oct. 1/2 The..Foot Ball Team..played the team over there off their feet.1948 M. Laski Tory Heaven ix. 131 I do hope you'll like my biscuits..my hubby—I just can't keep him off them.1980 D. D. Burns Feeling Good (1981) 396 When it is time to go off the medicine, it would be advisable to do this gradually.1993 U. Chatterjee Last Burden (1994) iv. 182 Now that you're back, you can bicker with him, and keep him off my back awhile.

2. from off, fro off: off from, off. Cf. sense A. 13.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > direction > in the direction of [preposition] > away from

offeOE

fromwardsc1000

from offlOE

frowardsc1175

fromward?c1225

lOE Canterbury Psalter i. 4 Tanquam pulvis quem proicit ventus a faciae terrae : swa þet dust þet se wind aworpet from of ansine eorþan.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 25596 (MED) Ihesus, þou was tane fra of þe crosse.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. iii. sig. Ee4^v Shall..Quite from th'earth [Faults Escaped; ‘of the earth’], their memory be raste?

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) i. i. 145 Would I might neuer stirre from off this place.

1655 J. Phillips Satyr against Hypocrites 20 And then she shook the crums From off her apron white, and pickt her gums.

1718 A. Ramsay Christ's-kirk on Green iii. xvi I'se rive frae off ye'r hips the hool.

1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 135 Wiping them [sc. tears] away from off the cheeks of the first and fairest of women.

1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto II lxxxviii. 163 As if to win a part from off the weight He saw increasing on his father's heart.

1842 D. Vedder Poems 84 Slates an' tiles, frae aff the houses, On the causey crown played smash.

1845 ‘Bon Gaultier’ Ballads 90 He lighted down from off his steed.

1923 Edinb. Evening News 29 Mar. 7/3 Pu' a bit heather frae off the Pentlands.

1952 ‘C. S. Forester’ Lieutenant Hornblower xv. 217 Hornblower extended his hand and picked a thread of oakum from off Buckland's lapel.

1998 R. Antoni World of Canes in S. Brown & J. Wickham Oxf. Bk. Caribbean Short Stories (1999) 407 Mr. Bootman would pick up the nuniforms from off the ships in the harbour.

a. Of a source: from the charge or possession of; esp. with take, buy, borrow, hire, etc. Also expressed by from prep. Cf. of prep. Now chiefly colloquial.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [preposition] > from or coming from

offc1330

from1748

c1330 Otuel (Auch.) (1882) 599 (MED) Otuel caste of his hond Corsouse, his gode brond.

a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 843 (MED) Holy watyr take of þe prestys hand.

c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 188 (MED) He [sc. a dog]..wolde neuer eate meate of no mans hand.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Chron. xxxv. 11 And they kylled the Passeouer, and the prestes toke it off their handes, and sprenkled it.

1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. i. 33 These Lines are taken off a Scale, that is divided into 20 parts to an Inch.

1753 W. Hogarth Anal. Beauty x. 108 It was drawn from a plaster-of-Paris figure cast off nature.

1885 Act 48 & 49 Victoria c. 41 §9 (3) A grand jury may..present any sum, to be raised off the county at large..for the purpose.

1891 C. T. C. James Romantic Rigmarole 36 A villager had come..to know whether Blincoe ‘would take a goose off him’.

1897 Daily News 1 June 3/5 She admitted borrowing the 1l. off the plaintiff.

1915 J. Conrad Victory II. vii. 139 In the evening we four sat round a bit of fire outside the sleeping-shed, eating broiled fish off plantain leaves.

1967 A. Christie Endless Night xvii. 159 We..chose steak and kidney pie off the menu and started.

1974 Liverpool Echo (Football ed.) 12 Oct. 1/2 Foggon went racing through again, but Boersma took the ball off him with a splendid sliding tackle.

1993 V. Seth Suitable Boy (1994) ix. 652 He enclosed the small snapshot of Lata he had got off the Mehras.

b. Cricket and Baseball. From the delivery of (a ball); from the bowling or pitching of (a player); from all the balls in (an over, inning, etc.).

ΚΠ

1839 Bell's Life in London 1 Sept. 4/2 Redgate now came out, and made a three off his first ball.

1859 All Year Round 23 July 305/2 He caught two of the town off my first ‘over’.

1882 Daily Tel. 24 June He next took Ramsay round to the leg boundary, and shortly stole a single off him also.

1899 N.Y. Times 7 Sept. 9/1 (heading) McJames' Steady Pitching. The Local nine made four hits off his delivery.

1935 Times 6 June 6/2 Hopwood was missed at short-leg off Reed when 15.

1991 M. Mantle My Favorite Summer iii. 33 The one that most people talk about is a ball I hit off Chuck Stobbs in 1954.

2000 Illawarra (Austral.) Mercury (Nexis) 19 Oct. 46 Keira under 13s need five runs to win off the final over.

4. Of material or substance, with dine, eat, etc. to live off: to subsist on, derive food, etc., from; (figurative) to be supported by.

ΚΠ

1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 305 He always..eats a supper off pork steaks, nearly raw.

1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales II. xxix. 216 Each day the convict sits down to dinner off either beef, pork, or plum-pudding.

1861 G. Meredith Evan Harrington I. viii. 124 An old gentleman who had dined there..four days in the week, off dishes dedicated to the particular days.

1885 W. D. Howells Rise Silas Lapham xxiii. 417 It's my business who lives off me; and so I tell you..I'm willing to take care of Zerrilla.

1913 H. Footner Jack Chanty 68 The Indians..live off the land during the summer.

1923 J. Buchan Midwinter ix. 150 He breakfasted..off cold beef and beer.

1970 Daily Tel. 12 Sept. 5/7 They lived off their recycled body wastes.

1995 Guardian 29 June (OnLine section) 2/4 They also found evidence that Boxgrove Man had dined off horse, rhino, red deer and cave bear.

5. Of deduction or lessening: from.

ΚΠ

1848 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. (ed. 7) I. iii. 224 The sums..which she saved off her allowance.

1871 G. MacDonald At Back of North Wind xiv. 148 He took a pound off what he had meant to ask for him, saying to himself it was a shame to part old friends.

1975 A. Beevor Violent Brink i. 5 Those irritating bits of paper offering her money off things she did not want.

1992 Wall St. Jrnl. 29 Dec. a2/4 GM is knocking $2,000 off the price of its Chevy S10 Blazer.

II. Of position.

a. Nautical. To seaward of; at a short distance to sea from; (also) away from (the wind). off and on: alternately away from and towards (the shore). See also offshore adv.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > [adverb] > to seaward of

off?a1610

?a1610 A. Montgomerie Poems (1887) xlviii. 156 The roks lay off the land.

1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. iv. 138 Ready to give his best Judgement of his Distance off the Shore.

1707 W. Funnell Voy. round World v. 126 Off it lie two Rocks or small Islands.

1708 London Gaz. No. 4420/6 We lay off and on Buccaness all Day Yesterday.

1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 3 The Stagg Rocks off the Lizard.

1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xiii. 365 The fleet..had been stationed off the Isle of Wight.

1813 Examiner 4 Jan. 6/1 The enemy keeping two points off the wind.

1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxiii. 232 During the last twenty-four hours of the passage, we beat off and on the land, making a tack about once in four hours.

1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xvi. 256 A sea battle..was fought off the eastern promontory of the Bay of Quiberon.

1912 J. Conrad Twixt Land & Sea 11 The Stella had experienced awful weather off the Cape.

1988 D. A. Thomas Compan. Royal Navy iii. 233/2 Calder lay off Ferrol with ten of the line..: he cruised 100 miles off Finisterre.

2001 Outside Oct. 95/3 This 150-mile-long archipelago about 50 miles off Cuba's southeastern coast is home to hundreds of mangrove-and palm-dotted cays.

b. Distant from (literal and figurative).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > distance > distance or farness > distant from [preposition]

offa1627

a1627 T. Middleton et al. Widdow (1652) iii. i. 32 Two mile off this place.

1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 375 About Two Miles off this Town.

1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. xiv. 243 He caught sight of Tessa, only two yards off him.

1885 W. D. Howells Rise Silas Lapham iii. 56 White, or a little off white.

1972 ‘H. Howard’ Nice Day for Funeral vii. 95 The time was nearly twenty minutes off ten.

2001 FourFourTwo Sept. 122/3 Whereas you would be able to stand five yards off a player in the First Division it will be two or maybe three at the most in the Premier League.

c. Sport (originally Golf). With a handicap of (a specified number).

ΚΠ

1890 Gloss. in H. G. Hutchinson et al. Golf (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 448 If your opponent has played one stroke more than you..your next stroke will be ‘the like’; if two strokes more..your next stroke will be ‘the one off two’; if ‘three more’—‘the one off three’, and so on.]

1954 Pop. Golf May 35/3 Fallon, playing off scratch..was round Moortown in 70 and Sand Moor in 74.

1976 Scotsman 15 Dec. 19/3 Jack Law, the Jedforest winger, is off 9 in hea[t] five.

1987 Waterski Internat. Mar. 6/2 Slalom is his favourite event, his personal best in competition is 4 at 39½ off, a mere busy short of the record.

2000 Guardian (Dar es Salaam) 27 May 20/7 While Ntege and Mabazi are six handicappers, Turya plays off handicap nine.

a. Away from being on; not on; esp. no longer on. Formerly also (Scottish): †away from. †off the stones: off the city pavement, out of the town (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > absence > with absence of (a thing) [preposition] > away from or out of > away from being on

off1681

offen1824

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 141 (MED) If I were of lond, þe werre suld sone bigynne.]

1681 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Glasgow (1905) III. 300 Sundrie of the counsellouris wer aff the toune.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 235/1 It is reported of the Spanish Dominions that the Sun is never off some part of it.

1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 112 As soon as the dew is off the ground.

1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. i. 50 They are all off the bridge now.

1826 J. Wilson Wks. (1855) I. 178 Whene'er I hear..o' any man being killed aff his horse.

a1845 T. Hood Town & Country in Wks. (1862–3) I. 429 Not thus the city streamlets flow; They make no music as they go, Tho' never ‘off the stones’.

1870 Good Words Feb. 133/2 You can scarcely find footing when once off the beaten road.

1883 Homiletic Mag. 3 49/1 His difficulty is to keep off the topic. He can hardly be patient with the very thought of the man who does not love his Christ.

1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood iii. ii. 258 The engine was off the rails on its side in a cloud of steam.

1951 W. D. Edmonds They fought with What they Had xxxiv. 237 Most of the men kept off the subject of Christmas.

1976 T. Allbeury Only Good German ix. 61 When we got off course they sent up a chopper.

1985 G. Paley Later Same Day 169 I didn't mean to get off the subject.

2000 R. W. Holder Taunton Cider & Langdons ix. 43 [The warehouse supervisor] left the phone off the hook.

b. figurative. Of state or condition: (a) away from (something normal or usual); (b) not occupied with or engaged in; disengaged from; (also) having lost interest in, averse to. off form: in bad form. off one's food: having a temporary dislike of food. off one's game: see game n. 8j. See also off-duty adv.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > inaction > idleness, lack of occupation or activity > not occupied with [preposition]

off1681

the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > [preposition] > out of or from

ofOE

off1681

the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > unaccustomedness or state of disuse > away from (what is habitual or usual) [preposition]

off1795

the mind > emotion > hatred > feeling against or a settled dislike > impulse of aversion > averse to [preposition]

off1795

1681 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 67 The grand jury for Middlesex were about finding a bill against the Kings guards as rioters, but they are now off it.

1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. i. viii. 166 Finding it to be nought, he would have been off his bargain.

1795 ‘P. Pindar’ Pindariana 101 I am off my feeding.

1807 W. Scott Let. 14 Mar. (1932) I. 359 This principle that the pursuers are entitled to have their time compensated when they were bona fide off work.

1827 Examiner 187/2 She was scolding him, because he was off work.

1853 E. C. Gaskell Cranford iv. 74 I had a note to say her mistress was ‘very low and sadly off her food’.

1889 E. Dowson Let. 16 Nov. (1967) 117 You are perhaps right in being ‘off’ Gortsachoff's though the cooking is less deleterious than Pinolis.

1909 W. B. Yeats Let. 10 Dec. (1954) 544 She seemed as eager as ever about the play. I had thought she was off it.

1912 C. Mathewson Pitching in Pinch vii. 142 The Chicago pitchers were away off form in the series.

1929 E. Bowen Last September xxiv. 308 ‘What about their bungalow?’ ‘Oh, that was just an idea; they are quite off it.’

1973 ‘H. Carmichael’ Too Late for Tears xiii. 153 I'm off my food, that's all.

1994 Daily Mirror 4 Oct. (TV Daily Suppl.) 1/4 Cody declares herself ‘completely off men’ as her American boyfriend dumped her for her best friend.

c. Away from the consumption of (an addictive substance, etc.). Cf. on prep. 12f, 12g.

ΚΠ

1839 Spirit of Times 16 Nov. 434/1 Like swearing off from liquor and going into a grog-shop.]

1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers iv. 71 You should tell him to keep off the drink.

1944 A. Wykes in Penguin New Writing 19 105 I'm off the beer.

1958 L. Uris Exodus iii. xviii. 461 I hope by the end of this week to have you completely off drugs.

1985 D. Koonitz Door to December ii. xix. 166 Help smokers get off cigarettes—by getting them onto drugs? Hells' bells.

2000 N. Griffiths Grits (2001) 21 Ee must still be off the smack.

8. Opening or turning out of; next to, leading from, not far from.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > distance > nearness > near to [preposition] > in contact with > communicating with

off1718

1718 in D. Robertson S. Leith Rec. (1929) II. 34 An piece of ground..to be an entry to the said John his back door off the foregate in all times coming.

1845 J. W. Carlyle Lett. I. 312 In Mary's little room (off my uncle's).

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 201/2 Watling-street, Bow-lane, Old-change, and other thoroughfares off Cheapside and Cornhill.

1860 All Year Round 28 July 372 In a small street off one of the west-central squares.

1929 E. Bowen Last September I. i. 5 Four rooms opened off it; at any moment a door might be opened, or blow open, sending a draught down one's neck.

1966 P. O'Donnell Sabre-tooth xxi. 283 I'll show you your room. There's a shower off it.

1985 J. Mortimer Paradise Postponed xviii. 214 Henry, Agnes and their child, Francesca, moved to a flat just off the King's Road.

2000 Arena July 157/3 The Hotel de Russie, just off the newly pedestrianised Piazza del Popolo.

C. n. [Chiefly absolute or elliptical uses of the adjective.]

1. Nautical. = offing n. rare (figurative in later use).

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > region of sea or ocean > [noun] > offing

offa1584

offinga1600

a1584 S. Borough in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) ii. 327 The shippe lay thwart to wende a flood, in the off, at the Southsoutheast moone.

1989 Jackie 11 Nov. 6/2 All claim to be young free 'n' single at the mo and there are no plans in the ‘off’ for any of them to get hitched.

2. The condition, state, or fact of being off (in various senses).

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > inaction > [noun] > fact of remaining inactive > condition or fact of being off

offa1669

a1669 J. Trapp in C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David (1878) V. Ps. cxvi. 10 I have had my offs and my ons,..I have passed through several frames of heart and tempers of soul.

1895 M. M. Dowie Gallia 119 I love to feel the on and off of the break and to watch the way the pole seems to feel its way through the traffic.

1972 Guardian 2 Dec. 8/8 People were asked to turn their gas taps to ‘off’.

1995 Amer. Scientist Sept. 404/2 A snap-action light switch is an extremely simple FSA, with just two stable states—off and on.

†3. A young animal taken from its mother. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1829 H. D. Best Personal & Lit. Mem. 257 To buy Lincolnshire hogs or offs, lambs taken off from their mothers.

4. Cricket. = offside n.¹ 3. off-theory n. now rare a theory that favours concentrating the fielders on the off side and bowling the ball at or outside the off stump. Cf. leg theory n. at leg n. Compounds 2b.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [noun] > side

leg side?1801

offside1816

leg1833

on-side1833

off1836

on1836

long on1843

long off1854

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > [noun] > theories

off-theory1883

leg theory1894

on-theory1896

1836 New Sporting Mag. 11 193 Thus if the bat be brought forward in a straight line to meet the ball moving in the same line, the ball will be struck directly to the bowler. It is on this principle, that more to the on or off, so will it be returned, and according as it is bowled, more to his left or right.

1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. viii. 388 Johnson the young bowler is getting wild, and bowls a ball almost wide to the off.

1883 W. L. Murdoch in Longman's Mag. Jan. 292 At the present time, when bowlers place their men on the off side and bowl on what I might term the ‘off theory’, batsmen should be very careful what ball they hit at.

1894 Daily News 23 Nov. 6/3 Steady cultivation of a break from the off is a better amusement than the premature affectation of being an Amphitryon.

1926 H. S. Altham Hist. Cricket xxi. 236 The off-theory was being to some extent abandoned.

1975 Cricketer May 14/2 Max Walker showed his ‘leg-cutter’ that snapped back from the off.

1988 Cricketer Aug. 19/2 Bradman hit only one four in front of the wicket on the off, but 14 to the on by means of drives and his celebrated pull.

5. colloquial. The start of a race (cf. sense A. 1f). Also (in extended use): the start (of anything), the beginning; departure; a signal to start or depart.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > beginning > [noun]

ordeOE

thresholdeOE

frumthc950

anginOE

frumeOE

worthOE

beginninga1225

springc1225

commencementc1250

ginninga1300

comsingc1325

entryc1330

aginning1340

alphac1384

incomea1400

formec1400

ingressc1420

birtha1425

principlea1449

comsementa1450

resultancec1450

inition1463

inceptiona1483

entering1526

originala1529

inchoation1530

opening1531

starting1541

principium1550

entrance1553

onset1561

rise1589

begin1590

ingate1591

overture1595

budding1601

initiationa1607

starting off1616

dawninga1631

dawn1633

impriminga1639

start1644

fall1647

initial1656

outset1664

outsettinga1698

going off1714

offsetting1782

offset1791

commence1794

aurora1806

incipiency1817

set-out1821

set-in1826

throw-off1828

go-off1830

outstart1844

start1857

incipience1864

oncome1865

kick-off1875

off-go1886

off1896

get-go1960

lift-off1967

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] > start

start1845

off1896

flag-fall1899

getaway1912

society > travel > aspects of travel > departure, leaving, or going away > [noun] > setting out > instance of

sally1657

set-off1759

set-forth1829

take-off1928

off1968

1896 J. K. Snowden Web of Old Weaver xvii. 197 It flashed upon me that he was for off.

1946 Sporting Life 15 June 1/1 Some open betting saw Paper Weight favourite at the ‘off’.

1959 Times 14 Sept. 3/1 Matthews broke once and on the second ‘off’ knocked down the first hurdle.

1966 J. Porter Sour Cream xiv. 180 It was too late. The students nearest to him..thought this was the off. They began to move forward.

1968 ‘H. Calvin’ Miranda must Die iii. 34 ‘Time for off,’ he said... He was gone.

1973 T. Allbeury Choice of Enemies xiii. 62 Jock..waited for someone to give him the off, and James said, ‘O.K. Jock, you just give us the general picture.’

1978 Lancashire Life Apr. 50 (caption) Tangle-wrangle: Stan Lyons waits on the slipway for the ‘off’, while helpers sort-out the lines from his harness.

1999 I. Rankin Dead Souls xi. 68 Rebus knew..how juries could decide from the off which way they'd vote.

6. U.S. regional, South African, and Indian English. A period off work, esp. a day off. See sense D. 4a.In U.S. regional use chiefly among Pennsylvania Germans; in South Africa among urban, esp. township, speakers.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > day or night

holidaya1400

play-day1558

playing day1575

non Le1636

whole holiday1753

rest day1800

Sunday out1837

day off1853

evening out1870

stop-day1879

night off1885

night out1890

off1926

1926 Amer. Speech 3 463 By ‘my off is all’, a sentence heard in North Central Pennsylvania, the speaker meant that his vacation was over.

1966 L. G. Berger Where's Madam 183 The watchboy supplied by Norman's firm hadn't come back from his ‘off’.

1971 in Dict. S. Afr. Eng. on Hist. Princ. (1996) (at cited word) I get my off once a week, on Sundays.

1980 J. Cock Maids & Madams 27 The only time she sees her children is on her ‘off’ on Sunday afternoons.

1993 S. Deshpande Binding Vine 153 It's Bhaskar, inviting me to his home for lunch. ‘I thought Thursday, perhaps. I have an off, and I know you're having vacations.’

2017 T. Peake North Facing iii. 27 Tea in the lounge—which Peggy would serve herself, Mosa having by now been given ‘off’.

D. adj. (chiefly attributive).

a. Designating or relating to the right side of a horse, another animal, or a vehicle (opposed to the near side: see near adj. 3). Hence in compounds, as off horse (of a pair), off-foot, off-lead, off-leader, off-leg, off-ox (also figurative, a clumsy or stubborn person), off-wheel, off-wheeler. See also offside n.¹ 2. not to know (a person) from Adam's off-ox: not to know or recognize (someone) (at all) (see Adam n.¹ Phrases 3b).

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [adjective] > right side of

further1578

off1593

1593 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 89 1 black cart gelding with a ringe on the offer buttocke xxxiijs. iiijd.

1674 London Gaz. No 926/4 Her off Leg before Wind-gaulled.

1708 London Gaz. No. 4477/4 His off-Knee is broke.

1764 Museum Rusticum 2 xiv. 52 To drive the cart so as the off-wheel should go in the same tract that the near wheel went in before.

1789 Trans. Soc. Arts 7 70 Enables the off-horse..to walk in the furrow.

1807 Balance (Hudson, N.Y.) 25 Aug. 267 We behold a clumsy, awkward off ox trying the tricks of a kitten.

1823 J. F. Cooper Pioneers I. iv. 51 I knew just the spot where to touch the off-leader.

1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. vii. 90 Ez to the answerin' o' questions, I'm an off ox at bein' druv.

1849 T. De Quincey Vision Sudden Death in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 750/1 With the haunch of our near leader, we had struck the off-wheel.

1880 Jackson Sentinel (Maquoketa, Iowa) 25 Mar. I didn't know him from Adam's off ox, on account of the ha'r on his face.

1890 R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads (1892) 35 Two's off-lead 'e answered to the name o' Snarleyow.

1894 A. Conan Doyle Mem. Sherlock Holmes 25 Silver Blaze with his white forehead and his mottled off fore leg.

1910 J. Hart Vigilante Girl x. 140 An iron ‘jockey-stick’ ran from the near leader's hames to the off-leader's bit.

1933 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 1 Apr. 4/3 I don't know him from Adam's (or God's) off-ox.

1980 Daily Tel. 5 June 1 (caption) With a bone in his off-fore foot fractured, Henbit is led into the winner's enclosure.

a2010 R. Aitken River of Heaven (2011) 114 I didn't know Buson from Adam's off ox, and only as I put this manuscript together did I realize that this verse..was written by Buson.

b. Cricket. Designating the side of the field towards which the batter's feet are pointed when standing to face a delivery; (also) designating a ball, etc., hit on this side, or a batter who hits the ball in this direction. See also offside n.¹ 3. off-cutter n. a ball that deviates from the off-side to the leg-side after a fast or medium-fast delivery (see cutter n.¹ 5b (b)).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [adjective] > side

off1773

on1836

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > types of delivery or ball

full toss1826

long hop1830

twister1832

bail ball1833

bailer1833

grubber1837

slow ball1838

wide1838

ground ball1839

shooter1843

slower ball1846

twiddler1847

creeper1848

lob1851

sneak1851

sneaker1851

slow1854

bumper1855

teaser1856

daisy-cutter1857

popper1857

yorker1861

sharpshooter1863

headball1866

screwball1866

underhand1866

skimmerc1868

grub1870

ramrod1870

raymonder1870

round-armer1871

grass cutter1876

short pitch1877

leg break1878

lob ball1880

off-break1883

donkey-drop1888

tice1888

fast break1889

leg-breaker1892

kicker1894

spinner1895

wrong 'un1897

googly1903

fizzer1904

dolly1906

short ball1911

wrong 'un1911

bosie1912

bouncer1913

flyer1913

percher1913

finger-spinner1920

inswinger1920

outswinger1920

swinger1920

off-spinner1924

away swinger1925

Chinaman1929

overspinner1930

tweaker1938

riser1944

leg-cutter1949

seamer1952

leggy1954

off-cutter1955

squatter1955

flipper1959

lifter1959

cutter1960

beamer1961

loosener1962

doosra1999

1773 Morning Post 16 July in G. B. Buckley Fresh Light on 18th Cent. Cricket (1935) 61 Having run a considerable number of notches from off-strokes.

1836 New Sporting Mag. July 195 Crossing the leg over at off-balls is another rule that I should like to see more men adopt.

1836 New Sporting Mag. July 195 The mode of handling the bat, for ‘On hitting’ must be similar to what is requisite for ‘Off hitting’.

1836 E. Jesse Angler's Rambles 298 His off-hits between point and slip, were the admiration of the club.

1851 J. Pycroft Cricket Field vii. 151 A good off-hitter should send the ball according to its pitch, not to one point only, but to three or four.

1888 A. G. Steel in A. G. Steel & R. H. Lyttelton Cricket (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) iii. 183 Left-handed batsmen are notoriously strong and powerful in their off hitting.

1904 F. C. Holland Cricket 9 Nearly all off strokes can be classed under one of the four principal hits—the off drive, the cut drive, the square cut, and the late cut.

1955 Times 5 July 4/2 Singh..was making his off-cutters seem more sinister than one feels they really were.

1966 E. R. Dexter Ted Dexter Declares ii. 21 They gave me a bit of bowling and I started with medium-pace swingers and off cutters.

1995 Guardian 8 Aug. ii. 4/3 Ambrose takes a vast swipe, but only succeeds in deflecting Cork's off-cutter into his stumps.

2. Nautical. Further from the shore; seaward. Hence gen.: situated further off or on the far side from another object or the observer, more distant, further, far. Chiefly in offside n.¹ 1.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > [adjective] > farther from shore

outc1350

off1666

offshore1840

1666 London Gaz. No. 66/4 The Lilly Fregat,..then in the off-gage of her station, near this Coast.

1745 London Mag. 397 Whilst I had to do with this Ship, the largest of all got on my Off-Bow, put me between two Fires.

1788 T. Jefferson Jrnl. 3 Mar. in Papers (1956) XIII. 9 The camel is shaped to the ship on the near side, and straight on the off one.

1833 Pearl & Lit. Gaz. 21 Dec. 79/3 I was for letting into him [sc. a bear] at once, but Zeb says..‘dont waste your powder man, I want to shoot him just under the off ear, that's the spot,’ so I held up.

1992 Women & Guns July 38/2 Actuating the laser..is accomplished by means of a toggle switch conveniently located on the left side of the mount. The off-hand can reach it easily.

†3. Lying off from, situated aside from, leading out of the main part. See off- prefix 1d, in the same sense, and cf. sense B. 8. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > distance > nearness > [adjective] > adjacent > to the main part

off1809

1809 R. Kerr Agric. Surv. Berwick 117 The smaller farms, which cannot be thus thrown together, owing to separations of property, are fast falling into the hands of spirited farmers, as separate or off farms.

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 201/1 The ‘off’ parts of St. Paul's Church-yard.

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 423/2 Friar-street is one of the smaller off thoroughfares.

1897 W. H. Thornton Reminisc. Clergyman i. 10 I rode with him one day to his off farm..and bought my first horse.

a. Designating a period or occasion when a person is not at work, on duty, at his or her business, at school, etc., or when normal activity, productivity, profit, etc., is diminished or suspended. Also (occasionally) in extended use, designating a person or persons not on duty, or a falling stock market. See also off-season n., off-year n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > [adjective] > at or having leisure > having time off

watch-free1581

off1826

sabbatical1836

off duty1852

spare1919

1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times I. iv. 151 On Mrs. Siddons's nights, Mr. Harris (being sure of an over-flow from Drury-lane,) only put up his weakest bills, reserving the strongest for his off nights.

1843 Knickerbocker 22 325 After an ‘off night’ when I was allowed to stay in town.

1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) ix. 76 It was with a team of these very horses, on an off-day, that Miss Sharp was brought to the Hall.

1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall St. 137 An ‘off’ market, is where prices have fallen either in a week, a day, or even an afternoon.

1875 ‘M. Twain’ Old Times Mississippi ii, in Atlantic Monthly Feb. 218/2 The ‘off-watch’ was just turning in, and I heard some brutal laughter from them.

1875 All Year Round 3 Apr. 23/1 That estimable lady..had arranged those meetings on the quiet off-evenings.

1897 Manch. Guard. 16 Oct. That in future all such meetings be held on ‘off days’ in preference to ‘market days’.

1899 J. Pennell in Fortn. Rev. 65 123 This has been an off, a profitless, year in practical cycle construction.

1913 A. G. Bradley Other Days v. 161 On the rare off-days [we] raided such crows and magpies' nests as we could find.

1922 Life 6 Apr. 20/1 In the same film we see the aged philosopher as a combination of the Vagabond in ‘The Tavern’ and something that Chic Sale might do on an off-night.

1928 Weekly Disp. 18 Mar. 2/4 He'd never have picked up that skill in the Lagos Lagoon in the few off-watches he'd get from a branch-boat.

1932 E. E. Reynolds Nansen i. 9 There was plenty of fun as well as hard work. One account of an off-hour is worth extracting as illustrating Nansen's geniality in whatever company he might find himself.

1976 National Observer (U.S.) 17 Jan. 19/2 Dr. Moskowitz is passionate about reading, theater, music, and writing, which is her newest off-hours activity.

1997 E. White Farewell Symphony (1998) ii. 74 On days when he was performing, Jimmy attended just one class, in the morning, but on off days he took so many that he crawled home.

b. Designating a period or occasion when a person is not on his or her usual form or is feeling slightly unwell, or when any production, performance, etc., is not up to the usual standard. Also (occasionally) in extended use, designating something marked by conditions unfavourable to a good performance.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > lacking one's usual skill

off1908

off form1912

1908 Sketch 11 Sept. 340/2 Rhodes had an ‘off-day’ and could do nothing.

1929 Star 21 Aug. 5/2 It was certainly Elder's off-night. He was not feeling in the best of form.

1930 F. E. Baily It won't do any Harm xiii. 260 You happened to ask me when I was in what I call an off-moment.

1959 Manch. Guardian 24 July 4/2 Tolstoy or Balzac in an off-moment might be almost anyone.

1959 T. Griffith Waist-high Culture (1960) 169 Such doubts arise in us all, at least on our off days.

1974 Index-Jrnl. (Greenwood, S. Carolina) 23 Apr. 6/6 ‘Destroyer can't handle an off track.’ On a fast track though..Destroyer looks like a Kentucky Derby winner.

1998 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 15 June e4/4 The Houston Astros took advantage of a rare off-day by closer Jeff Shaw and rallied for a win.

5. Of an electrical device: corresponding to or producing the state of being disconnected or off (sense A. 4b). Also in extended use.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > circuit > device to open or close circuit > [adjective] > turning on or off

off1899

on1899

on-off1931

1899 J. Pigg Railway ‘Block’ Signalling vii. 363 In the ‘off’ position of the signal arm the switch makes such contacts as passes a ‘holding down’ current from the battery at the local station.

1935 D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night xvi. 327 The switch..stood in the ‘Off’ position, and she struck it down.

1960 Pract. Wireless 36 425/2 A two-pole toggle switch..could be used in the S1 position thus isolating the mains completely from the equipment when the switch is in the ‘off’ position.

1975 L. Deighton Yesterday's Spy vii. 52 Schlegel bashed the ‘off’ button and the music ended with a loud click.

1988 D. Lodge Nice Work i. i. 4 Vic..hits the Off button on the clock.

2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 20 Sept. 35/1 We have a new miracle drug..that ‘switches your anxiety to the Off Position’.

6. Physiology. Of, relating to, exhibiting, or designating a response to the cessation of a stimulus. Chiefly attributive.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > action of nervous system > [adjective] > electrical phenomena

electromotive1800

neuroelectric1843

bioelectric1849

rheoscopic1851

anelectrotonic1862

monophasic1888

off1903

on1903

bioelectrical1910

neuroelectrical1914

rheobasic1917

myoelectric1955

myoelectrical1970

1903 F. Gotch in Jrnl. Physiol. 29 393 The third or terminal portion is a second rise due to the sudden change from light to darkness; this I propose for brevity to term the OFF effect.

1934 Jrnl. Physiol. 81 26 The increase in P III and its rapid return at ‘off’ account for the increased off-effect of the light-adapted eye.

1941 S. H. Bartley Vision xii. 287 The off-response first appears when the light flash is very short.

1948 Jrnl. Physiol. 107 57 The on-sensitivity to blue (B-on) was taken as the fundamental sensitivity... For those elements which showed no on-effect the off-sensitivity to blue (B-off) was used.

1972 H. Tamar Princ. Sensory Physiol. iv. 153/2 Some 5 per cent of all color-responsive ganglion cells seem really to have receptive fields with centers which are either ‘on’ or ‘off’ to one color.

1991 NeuroReport 2 231/2 Control the silent period of off-responses by the activation of K⁺ currents.

7. Of a taste or smell (esp. of food or drink): stale, sour, contaminated, rancid; cf. sense A. 1g(b). Recorded earliest in off-flavour n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > qualities of food > [adjective] > stale, decaying, or infested

oldeOE

fustya1492

stale1530

overkept1837

overhung1895

skippery1899

off1913

1913 A. P. Hitchens in Science 12 Sept. 376/2 No off-flavor was present in normal control cheese.

1942 Science 19 June 10/1 [Dehydrated foods] become tough, or develop hay-like ‘off’ tastes and odors.

1955 F. G. Ashbrook Butchering xii. 226 The fruit residues in the vinegar may give the fish an ‘off’ taste.

1993 Dog World Oct. 38/2 Aldehydes and ketones..contribute to the ‘off’ smell and taste, but are relatively benign, as they are metabolized like sugar.

Compounds

In phrases with the and noun, used attributively or as adj.See also off the cuff at cuff n.¹ 2c, off-the-rack adj., off the shelf at shelf n.¹ 1e, off-the-shoulder at shoulder n. 2j, etc.

off-the-course n. occurring away from a racecourse.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [adjective] > type of betting

ante-post1865

off-track1931

off-the-course1951

off-course1960

on-course1964

on-track1964

1951 B. S. Rowntree et al. Eng. Life & Leisure ii. 126 ‘Off the course’ betting on greyhounds, although by no means a rarity, is not the common occurrence that it is in the case of horse races.

1991 Hist. Today Oct. 38/1 Legal off-the-course outlets for cash (ready-money) betting were introduced only quite recently, in May 1961.

off-the-face adj. of a hat, hair, etc.: not covering or shading any part of the face.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [adjective] > hat > other

round1565

four-corner1640

basoned1728

cockled1745

featherlessa1845

Christy1867

pullover1877

pugreed1881

sailor-shape1897

off-the-face1908

weepered1908

1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 117. 1036/2 Pretty ‘off the face’ hat for children.

1992 Hair Flair (BNC) Thick wavy hair has been styled upwards..for this off-the-face look.

off-the-job n. (a) done or happening away from one's work; (b) unemployed.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > lack of work > [adjective] > not working or unemployed

servicelessc1450

unlabouredc1450

masterless1471

unwrought1550

unplaced1558

labourless1576

flag-fallen1609

unlabouring1619

disemployed1651

hireless1651

unengaged1654

unemployed1667

unworking1696

untoiling1748

workless1758

occupationless1822

placeless1828

out of work1833

non-working1841

unhired1852

jobless1862

out of (or in) collar1862

non-employed1876

spare1919

on the beach1923

in dry dock1927

off-the-job1950

on (also upon) the street(s)1980

unwaged1981

society > occupation and work > working > [adjective] > working > done or occurring while > not

off-the-job1950

1950 Internat. Organization 4 490 The recommendations dealt also with..on- and off-the-job training, recruitment of instructors, [etc.].

1967 Time 21 July 51 Some sort of new company-financed plan enabling an off-the-job worker to maintain ‘his normal living standard’ for up to a year.

1986 Marketing 11 Sept. 83/4 The course tries to relate off-the-job learning with an on-the-job experience.

off-the-map n. insignificant, obscure, of no account or consequence.

ΚΠ

1915 War Illustr. 2 328/1 One of the curious off-the-map incidents of the war was brought to notice the other day.

1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart i. i. 19 An off-the-map, seedy old family friend.

off-the-road n. located, operated, or occurring away from roads.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [adjective] > located or occurring away from road

wayside1649

off-the-road1946

1946 Fortune Aug. 185/2 Willys will aim it [sc. a light four-wheel-drive truck] at farmers, dairymen, and others who..encounter a lot of off-the-road haulage.

1962 Guardian 4 Oct. 14/2 Off-the-road training grounds for learner drivers.

1998 Jrnl. Torrey Bot. Soc. 125 40/2 Disturbance from recreational use (e.g., trampling and off-road vehicle traffic) causes changes in foredune microclimate..and vegetation.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	off
释义	offv. Brit. /ɒf/, U.S. /ɔf/, /ɑf/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: off adv. Etymology: < off adv., often used elliptically for phrasal verbs (see spec. senses below). Compare in v., back v.With quots. 1895¹ at sense 2, 2003 at sense 2 compare the following:1865 ‘L. Carroll’ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland viii. 122 The Queen..went stamping about, and shouting ‘Off with his head!’ 1. †a. transitive. To put off, defer. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > delay or postponement > delay [verb (transitive)] forslowc888 eldc897 forsita940 gele971 lengOE drilla1300 delayc1300 onfrestc1300 tarryc1320 jornc1330 dretchc1380 defer1382 forbida1387 to put offa1387 to put (also set) (something) in (or on) delaya1393 dilate1399 fordrawa1400 to put overc1410 latch?c1422 adjournc1425 prolongc1425 proloynec1425 rejournc1425 to put in respite1428 sleuthc1430 respitea1450 prorogue1453 refer1466 sleep1470 supersede1482 respectc1487 postpone1496 overseta1500 respett1500 enjourna1513 relong1523 retract1524 tarde1524 track1524 to fode forth1525 tract1527 protract1528 further1529 to make stay of1530 surcease1530 prorogate1534 to fay upon longc1540 linger1543 retard?1543 slake1544 procrastine1548 reprieve1548 remit1550 suspense1556 leave1559 shiftc1562 suspend1566 procrastinate1569 dally1574 post1577 to hold off1580 drift1584 loiter1589 postpose1598 to take one's (own) timea1602 flag1602 slug1605 elong1610 belay1613 demur1613 tardya1616 to hang up1623 frist1637 disjourn1642 future1642 off1642 waive1653 superannuate1655 perendinate1656 stave1664 detard1675 remora1686 to put back1718 withhold1726 protract1737 to keep over1847 to hold over1853 laten1860 to lay over1885 hold1891 back-burner1975 1642 E. Dering Coll. Speeches on Relig. 96 The further debate of this was offed [printed ofted] to the next day. b. transitive. To withdraw from; to decline or refuse. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (transitive)] warnc897 willeOE forbidc1000 warnc1000 willOE asake1250 withsay1297 gainsayc1330 recusea1387 naitc1390 to say naya1393 again-say?a1400 denyc1400 withnayc1400 biwern1413 refuse?1435 resist1539 detrect1542 renege1545 detract1572 waive1642 declinea1691 nay-say1762 nay-saya1774 nix1903 off1908 ixnay1937 1908 A. S. M. Hutchinson Once aboard Lugger vi. vi. §2. 437 There's this locum tenens I was going to take up in the North. I haven't offed that yet—haven't refused it I mean. 2. intransitive. to off with: to take off instantly (cf. off adv. 8b). nonstandard, regional, or humorous. to off with a person's head: to decapitate unceremoniously (used with humorous allusion to the command ‘Off with his head!’: see etymological note). ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > remove or take away > from the position of being on > instantly to off with1805 1805 R. Anderson Ballads in Cumberland Dial. 5 I off wi' my clogs, and as whisht as a mouse, Claver'd up to the window. 1892 Daily News 23 Feb. 5/1 They offed with his head. 1895 K. Grahame Golden Age 56 When the Queen said ‘Off with his head!’ she'd have offed with your head. 1895 Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 111 So then he offs with his diamond ring. 1936 ‘M. Innes’ Death at President's Lodging xi. 205 Then Campbell offs with the gown again. 1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 201/1 Off..with: to take off. He offs with his coat. 2003 www.alanzeleznikar.com 21 Feb. (O.E.D. Archive) Centuries of monarchy came to an end on July 14, 1789, when a crowd rose up, freed..prisoners from the Bastille and then eventually toppled the monarchy of Louis XVI and ‘offed with his head’ with the guillotine. 3. a. transitive. To take off or away, remove.In quot. 1887: to get rid of by swallowing. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > remove or take away > from the position of being on latcha1225 off-wevec1300 to take offa1400 to get off1577 to lay offa1593 daff1609 off1826 1826 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 318/2 Off hands, if you please, and behave to the gentleman as a gentleman. 1834 C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing, Major 32 As there was an eend of the dance, all the galls off shoes and stockings and went hum. 1887 R. Browning Fust & Friends 76 Awaiting thy sign To out knife, off mouthful. 1939 E. Strafford Found. Brit. Patriotism 128 Tyrants who went about offing peoples heads. 1994 J. Barth Once upon Time 14 But anyhow he's not offing your head. b. transitive. U.S. slang and Indian English. To turn off, shut down.The two regional usages appear to have developed independently. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease from (an action or operation) [verb (transitive)] > cause to cease or put a stop to > cause (a thing) to cease action stop1377 stintc1440 whoa1861 off1975 1975 M. Piñero Short Eyes 5 Off the fucking noise. 1977 C. McFadden Serial 119 I've gotta go tell Joan to off that goddamn rock [music]. 1979 P. Nihalani et al. Indian & Brit. Eng. 130 Will you off the light before you leave, please? 1984 W. M. Henderson Stark Raving Elvis 58 No movies, man. We're going to off movies in that theater for good. 1996 Adv. Learner's Dict. (Indian ed.) Indian Eng. Suppl. 1462/1 Will you off the fan, please? 4. intransitive. To go off, make off (nonstandard or humorous). Frequently as to up and off. Also transitive, with it: to depart; (slang) to die. Cf. sense 6, and off adv. 8. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > [verb (intransitive)] forsweltc888 sweltc888 adeadeOE deadc950 wendeOE i-wite971 starveOE witea1000 forfereOE forthfareOE forworthc1000 to go (also depart , pass, i-wite, chare) out of this worldOE queleOE fallOE to take (also nim, underfo) (the) deathOE to shed (one's own) blood?a1100 diec1135 endc1175 farec1175 to give up the ghostc1175 letc1200 aswelta1250 leavea1250 to-sweltc1275 to-worthc1275 to yield (up) the ghost (soul, breath, life, spirit)c1290 finea1300 spilla1300 part?1316 to leese one's life-daysa1325 to nim the way of deathc1325 to tine, leave, lose the sweatc1330 flit1340 trance1340 determinec1374 disperisha1382 to go the way of all the eartha1382 to be gathered to one's fathers1382 miscarryc1387 shut1390 goa1393 to die upa1400 expirea1400 fleea1400 to pass awaya1400 to seek out of lifea1400–50 to sye hethena1400 tinea1400 trespass14.. espirec1430 to end one's days?a1439 decease1439 to go away?a1450 ungoc1450 unlivec1450 to change one's lifea1470 vade1495 depart1501 to pay one's debt to (also the debt of) naturea1513 to decease this world1515 to go over?1520 jet1530 vade1530 to go westa1532 to pick over the perch1532 galpa1535 to die the death1535 to depart to God1548 to go home1561 mort1568 inlaikc1575 shuffle1576 finish1578 to hop (also tip, pitch over, drop off, etc.) the perch1587 relent1587 unbreathe1589 transpass1592 to lose one's breath1596 to make a die (of it)1611 to go offa1616 fail1623 to go out1635 to peak over the percha1641 exita1652 drop1654 to knock offa1657 to kick upa1658 to pay nature her due1657 ghost1666 to march off1693 to die off1697 pike1697 to drop off1699 tip (over) the perch1699 to pass (also go, be called, etc.) to one's reward1703 sink1718 vent1718 to launch into eternity1719 to join the majority1721 demise1727 to pack off1735 to slip one's cable1751 turf1763 to move off1764 to pop off the hooks1764 to hop off1797 to pass on1805 to go to glory1814 sough1816 to hand in one's accounts1817 to slip one's breatha1819 croak1819 to slip one's wind1819 stiffen1820 weed1824 buy1825 to drop short1826 to fall (a) prey (also victim, sacrifice) to1839 to get one's (also the) call1839 to drop (etc.) off the hooks1840 to unreeve one's lifeline1840 to step out1844 to cash, pass or send in one's checks1845 to hand in one's checks1845 to go off the handle1848 to go under1848 succumb1849 to turn one's toes up1851 to peg out1852 walk1858 snuff1864 to go or be up the flume1865 to pass outc1867 to cash in one's chips1870 to go (also pass over) to the majority1883 to cash in1884 to cop it1884 snuff1885 to belly up1886 perch1886 to kick the bucket1889 off1890 to knock over1892 to pass over1897 to stop one1901 to pass in1904 to hand in one's marble1911 the silver cord is loosed1911 pip1913 to cross over1915 conk1917 to check out1921 to kick off1921 to pack up1925 to step off1926 to take the ferry1928 peg1931 to meet one's Maker1933 to kiss off1935 to crease it1959 zonk1968 cark1977 to cark it1979 to take a dirt nap1981 1843 H. W. Herbert Deerstalkers iii. 66 I..hitched up old Roan, and offed to Jess Wood's. 1858 J. Rayson Bruff Reaces st. 5 They off wi' a brattle, 'mang sticks and hats waving. 1889 T. E. Brown Manx Witch 18 ‘And will you go linkin with me?’ says Jack... ‘I'm thinkin I'd better,’ says Nessy... And offs with him. 1890 Punch 28 June 310/2 He found out after they'd off'd it that they didn't own a white mouse among 'em! 1895 Westm. Gaz. 21 Sept. 2/1 He took down his hat, an' off'd. 1930 J. Buchan Castle Gay iv. 72 He has probably offed it abroad. 1965 Listener 27 May 797/2 He ups and offs from wife, job, kids. 1993 ‘J. Gash’ Paid & Loving Eyes (1994) xxviii. 211 Ten minutes later..she upped and offed without so much as a word of warning. †5. intransitive. Nautical. Of a ship: to move off from shore (cf. offing n.). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > direct or manage ship [verb (intransitive)] > head in a certain course or direction > sail away from shore or ships to stand off1591 to stand away1600 to bear away1614 to stand out to sea1625 outstand1866 off1882 1882 Ogilvie's Imperial Dict. (new ed.) (at cited word) We were offing at the time the accident happened. 6. transitive. Chiefly U.S. To kill. Also reflexive: to commit suicide.Cf. slang use at sense 4. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > killing > killing by specific method > kill [verb (transitive)] off1967 1967 P. Thomas Down these Mean Streets xx. 198 If he lays a hand on me again, I'm gonna off him. 1977 Time 31 Jan. 52/1 There is a contract out on him and he will be offed as sure as next morning's sunrise. 1986 K. Friedman Greenwich Killing Time x. 39 Whoever offed Frank Worthington was methodical. 1997 J. Moore Never eat your Heart Out 136 After Pal Thayer's death people talked about why Pal ‘offed’ himself. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022). offadv.prep.n.adj. Brit. /ɒf/, U.S. /ɔf/, /ɑf/ Forms: α. Old English–1700s of, Middle English–1600s ofe; English regional 1800s– of, 1800s– oft (Cumberland), 1800s– orf; Scottish pre-1700 af, pre-1700 afe, pre-1700 of, pre-1700 ofe. β. late Old English– off, Middle English–1600s offe, 1600s affe, 1900s– hoff (colloquial); Scottish pre-1700 affe, pre-1700 offe, pre-1700 1700s– aff, pre-1700 1700s– off; also Irish English (northern) 1900s– aff. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: of prep. Etymology: < of prep. (see etymological note at that entry).Developed from the strong form of of prep., the word regularly has final /f/. Both weak and strong forms are used for of prep. until the 17th cent., at which time the two words become fully differentiated. Off is uncommon in Old English, and is used with greater frequency only after c1400. In Old and Middle English off forms collocations with following verbs, which can be regarded as examples of the prefix (see off- prefix 1a). The form offe in early Middle English (at which period the spelling indicated a disyllable) appears to have final -e on the analogy of inne, adverb denoting rest within a place, originally contrasted with inn, adverb denoting motion towards a place. N.E.D. (1902) gives also the pronunciation (ǫ̀f) /ɒf/, /ɔːf/. In this entry are included all examples of the adverb, whether under (α) the earlier spelling of, or (β) the later off; but, of the preposition, only those uses for which off is now the recognized form; for others see of prep. A. adv. I. General uses.Off has been used since the Middle English period with many verbs, e.g. buy v., come v., dash v., get v., go v., look v., mark v., palm v., pass v., rattle v.¹, show v., take v., etc.: see the first element. In most of these the basic uses of off correspond to those given below, while (as with other phrasal verbs) the further developments take a more idiomatic turn. 1. a. Expressing motion or direction from a place: to a distance, away, quite away; as in to go off, run off, drive off. to be off: to get going; to go away. be off with you: get going; go away (cf. off (with you)! at sense A. 8b). Also expressing resistance to motion towards: as in to beat off, hang off, keep off, ward off. ΘΚΠ the world > space > direction > [adverb] > away from some thing or place awayeOE outeOE frowardOE offOE yondwardc1275 yonwarda1387 waywardsc1390 fromwarda1547 offward1582 fromwardsa1661 orf1845 α. OE Blickling Homilies 5 Man sceolde mid sare on þas world cuman..& mid sare of gewitan. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) 3 Esdras iv. 9 If he seie to fallen of [a1425 L.V. throwe doun], þei fallen of. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 58 Leueful is with force, force of showue. ?c1500 Mary Magdalene (Digby) 379 Com of þan, let vs be-gynne. 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. CC^v Come of..thou that arte disposed to leaue all for the loue of Iesu. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. cclxij^v Peces of ordinaunce whiche shot of. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 163 King Gald..flies af the feild. 1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xv. xxvii. 569 The fittest forme for to keepe of the rayne and weather, was to bee ridged downe a proportioned descent from the toppe downeward. 1777 J. Woodforde Diary 22 July (1978) 134 Cousin Lewis and Son went of this morning for Nottingham. β. 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 12 Neyther could we keepe off,..our outward enimies.c1575 Fawkner's Glasse in Perfect Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) When she knowe her game fly fare ofe.1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 557 To drive off his melancholy thoughts.1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 28 To send my Mate off with the Boat.1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xvii. 180 She is gone off with two gentlemen in a post chaise.1783 H. Cowley Which is the Man? iii. ii. 29 I'll go and pack up a few things, and call a coach and be off, before Lady Bell comes from Court.1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey IV. vi. vi. 220 We had better order our horses, and be off.1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. vi. 115 Mr. Quilp put his hat on and took himself off.1842 R. H. Barham Lay St. Cuthbert in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 229 Come, mizzle!—be off with you!—go!1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 65 I must be off into the woods.1896 Law Times 100 508/1 [He] succeeded in getting the animal under control, and rode off.1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow vi. 172 She beat him off.1934 C. P. Snow Search I. i. 11 He would set off, as though he and the church-bell had nothing in common.a1979 J. Grenfell Turn back Clock (1983) i. 10 Now, are you all ready? Then be off with you.1989 Weekly News (Glasgow) 27 May 28 Many defenders don't realise how strong he is, particularly in his ability to hold people off.2004 J. Colgan Do you remember First Time? xiii. 238 He would be off to Africa again soon with Madeleine and I'd never seen him again. b. In figurative use, as to buy off, fall off, knock off, put off, etc. Cf. also sense A. 6a. ΚΠ α. eOE Laws of Ine (Corpus Cambr. 173) lxxiv. §2. 122 Buton he him wille fæhðe ofaceapian. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 196^v Þis stoon warneþ of venour as electrum doþ and putteþ of diuers dredes and feres. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxxiv. 150 The kynge bought of sir Thomas Hallande,..and therle of Tankernyll, and payed for them twentie thousande nobles. β. 1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 170 With fayre wordes [he] put them off for that tyme.1629 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. (ed. 5) xxxiv. sig. G4^v One whom no rate can buy off from the least piece of his freedome.1666 J. Davies tr. C. de Rochefort Hist. Caribby-Islands 268 They will fall off from what they have promised.1707 W. Funnell Voy. round World ix. 259 A small matter of Money will buy off a great Fault.1874 A. Trollope Lady Anna I. vii. 85 I mean it to be love, and I'm not going to be put off by Serjeant Bluestone.1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant xiv. 203 By the time the real weather comes along everybody has guessed wrong and knocked the market off a cent or two.1934 G. B. Shaw On the Rocks i. 25 You have to buy him off with a scrap of dole.1964 R. Gover Here goes Kitten 36 I was not put off by her tactics.2000 R. W. Holder Taunton Cider & Langdons iv. 18 In 1925 the miners were bought off for a time by an agreement for a minimum wage. c. Nautical. Away from land, or from the vessel; (also) away from the wind. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > [adverb] > away from land or from ship off1611 society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of wind > [adverb] > away from wind off1611 1611 Bible (King James) Acts xxvii. 32 Then the souldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off [all prec. vv. away] . View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. i. 48 Lay her a hold, a hold, set her two courses off to Sea againe, lay her off. View more context for this quotation 1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret iv. i. sig. H3^v I would I had A conuoy too, to bring me safe off. 1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World vi. 132 He stood off to Sea, and we plied up under the shore. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. ii. i. 22 Then she would fall off 2 or 3 Points from the Wind. 1723 D. Defoe Four Years Voy. 27 To sail to the Isle of Sal, and bring off all the People. 1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 107 Nothing off... To bring the ship's head nearer to the Wind. 1988 Mid-Atlantic Country Mar. 62/2 We were mowed down during one particularly violent series of wintry blasts, falling off the wind under working jib only. d. In predicative use: gone off, just going off, about to go, leaving. Also figurative: fallen or falling asleep; (in quot. 1815) dying. off out (colloquial): away from home, out of doors; on the point of leaving a place, on one's way somewhere. ΘΚΠ society > travel > aspects of travel > departure, leaving, or going away > [adverb] > setting out off1791 the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [adverb] asleep1154 slumberingly1647 off1852 undera1936 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsemanship ix. 42 My horse..was off with me in a jiffey. 1815 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 16 He raised himself up..and said almost inarticulately, ‘I am off’, and expired. 1852 Mrs. Smythies Bride Elect xliv Come, Geraldine, it is time to be off! 1856 T. De Quincey Confessions Eng. Opium-eater (rev. ed.) in Select. Grave & Gay V. 76 I'm off for the Red Sea. 1865 G. W. Thornbury Dr. Marigold's Prescriptions: To be Taken in Water in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 7 Dec. 32/1 ‘Why, you're talking in your sleep!’..‘What was I talking about?’..‘Greek, I think..but I was just off too.’ 1907 E. M. Forster Longest Journey xxxi. 318 ‘For my part, I'm off’. 1964 J. Mitchell White Father viii. 191 Then he adjusted the microphone for Edward, picked up his trumpet, gave a downbeat and they were off, without any announcement. a1966 ‘M. na Gopaleen’ Best of Myles (1977) 54 I been meself on a day's walk with the brother off out in Howth last March. 1976 J. Wilson Let's Pretend vii. 75 Once he's off, that's it... Like to carry him up to his cot, dear? 1978 J. Barfoot Abra xiv. 82 ‘Well, we're off then,’ she says. 1981 J. Sullivan Only Fools & Horses (1999) I. 1st Ser. Christmas Special 64 Grandad. I'm off out now, see you later. Del. Yeah tadda Grandad. 2001 C. Glazebrook Madolescents 172 I'm off to a limbo-dancing class straight from work. e. colloquial. to be off (again): to be embarked on some (esp. habitual or obsessive) course of action; to begin speaking tiresomely or at length about a favourite subject. ΚΠ 1815 S. J. Arnold Maid & Magpye i. ii. 23 Jul. This time..I am resolved to see to the bottom of the business. Ger. There! now she's off again! as if it followed, because a thing's mislaid, that it must be stolen. 1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. vi. 81 Jo was off again, making more droll revelations and committing still more fearful blunders. 1929 Radio Times 8 Nov. 388/3 Mr. Lance Sieveking..is off again. Was there ever such a one for experiments? 1987 A. Miller Timebends (1988) ii. 125 They were off, figuring the probable number of seats in the theater and dividing that into thirty million. 1993 Tatler July 124/1 He was an unstoppable fund of theatrical stories; ‘We who don the motley,’ was his usual opening and then he would be off, arms flailing, eyes flashing. f. In colloquial phrases (originally with reference to Horse Racing). they're off (occasionally they are off): the race has started. to be off and running: to have started and be making good progress. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > continuing > progress, advance, or further continuance > progress or advance in an action [verb (intransitive)] > make good progress to go or run on wheelsc1547 forge1769 to be off and running1823 to be well on one's (also the) way1900 to take or make strides1926 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [interjection] > start they're off1823 1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 129 ‘Now they are off’, said of horse-racing, on those courses where jockeys are cheatingly permitted to make three, four, five, or more false starts. 1833 Mirror of Lit. 27 July 59/2 They are off! ‘No, no’—cries one jockey whose horse turned his tail to the others. 1846 ‘Sylvanus’ Pedestrian & Other Reminisc. xxiv. 227 The horses are paraded, the flag is dropped—‘they're off!’ is repeated by twenty thousand tongues. 1872 B. Jerrold London viii. 74 Clear the course!.. A flutter goes through the sea of heads on the Grand Stand... They're off! 1928 E. O'Neill Strange Interlude viii. 288 They're off!.. Navy and Washington are leading—Gordon's third. 1962 Washington Daily News 31 July 29/3 It took a gent who wasn't good enough to make it in the National League to get them off and running. 1974 G. Chapman et al. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1989) xliii. 307 And they're off..(the starting stall doors fly open; out come eight identically dressed Queen Victorias). 1994 Magnet May 20/2 The band was off and running but its momentum was impeded temporarily by Dwyer's departure from the ranks. g. In bad condition; wrong, abnormal, odd; spec. (a) of a person or animal: not in good condition or form; off-colour, slightly unwell; (b) of food: stale, sour, contaminated; (c) of social behaviour: unacceptable; ill-mannered; esp. in (it's) a bit off.Not always clearly distinguishable from sense A. 5b. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [adverb] > in poor physical condition off1843 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [adverb] > in a wrong way, amiss on missc1225 overthwarta1382 a-crookc1500 awrya1513 wide?1529 astray1535 across1559 bias1600 outa1641 beside the bridge1652 on the wrong side of the post1728 abroad1806 off1843 way off1882 off beam1941 up the boohai?1946 the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > [adverb] > unmannerly > unacceptably off1916 the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > expressions of disapproval [phrase] shamea1352 I like that1720 to go up (also down) one1909 it's (just) not on1935 a bit off1966 the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > [adverb] > oddly odd1603 oddlya1616 quirkishly1673 queerly1698 singularly1752 quarely1805 rumly1819 funnily1837 peculiarly1847 funny1852 rummily1891 quirkily1926 off1966 1843 Satirist & Sporting Chron. 4 Feb. 2/1 The Bench however convinced that the Shiner's story was all moonshine,..for the affair was, as our sporting correspondent says ‘off’. 1846 Spirit of Times 18 Apr. 91/1 He had endurance and speed enough to make a good race in any crowd, when ‘all right’, but then, he [sc. a horse] was liable to be oftener ‘off’ than otherwise. 1868 H. Woodruff & C. J. Foster Trotting Horse Amer. xxxvi. 300 When a trotter wins with great ease,..it is assumed, not that the loser was ‘off’, but that the winner is greatly superior. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin ix. 153 ‘S'pose I'd best be makin' a move, though,’ he added ruefully. ‘Bit orf, I calls it!’ 1941 E. Bowen Look at all those Roses 68 ‘Your caller sounded to me a bit off.’ ‘Oh, Mrs. Massey's had bad news. She..didn't feel well.’ 1952 R. Finlayson Schooner came to Atia 140 Meat that tasted ‘off’. 1966 ‘W. Cooper’ Mem. New Man ii. v. 155 It is just a teentsy-weentsy bit off, isn't it, darling, not to let you know he was coming. 1974 Listener 24 Jan. 102/1 Something was a little off with the mechanism, so the feeder-belt chewed up the baggage in transit. 1983 P. Marshall Praisesong for Widow III. ii. 170 I began feeling strange. Not sick or anything, just ‘off,’ not myself. 1990 Green Mag. Apr. 20/1 Fish, especially oily types have been said to taste ‘off’ after irradiation. h. colloquial and regional. Short for off one's head, nut, rocker, etc.: not in one's right mind, crazy, mad. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adverb] > madly woodlyc1000 madlyc1225 out of (by, from, of) wit or one's wit1470–85 bedlamlya1569 bedlamlike1576 distractedly1608 madling1608 monthly1611 brainsicklya1616 maddinglya1625 frenzilya1688 crazily1814 insanely1828 dementedly1844 off1866 hippomaniacally1876 pathologically1925 manically1927 dottily1937 feyly1959 kookily1968 nutso1980 1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire in Trans. Philol. Soc. 215 Aff, to be, to be deranged; as, ‘He wiz lang jummlet; bit he's aff athegeethir noo.’ 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 9 Apr. 3/2 Humor him as he was a little off. 1904 W. H. Smith Promoters i. 8 I've sometimes thought you were a trifle visionary, but I never considered you seriously off. 1928 ‘P. Grey’ Making of King 31 Ye're aff far eneuch a'ready—clean aff. 1975 B. Wood Killing Gift ii. i. 47 He was an old man, after all; perhaps he was just a little off... ‘No, gentlemen, I'm not senile.’ 2. a. Expressing separation from attachment, contact, or position on: not on or touching; (so as to be) loose or separate; as in to break off, cast off, cut off, put off, shake off, take off, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > absence > [adverb] offeOE outena1200 hereout?c1225 wayc1275 orf1845 α. eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. xxxv. 86 Smire mid hunige þæt þy þe raþor sio hryfing of fealle. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 30 Gyf þin swiðre hand þe aswice, aceorf hi of, & awurp hi fram þe. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 656 Ic wille..þæt þær ne be numen of na geld na gaule. c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 28 He mid his sweorde hire þæt heafod of asloh. c1300 St. John Baptist (Laud) 98 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 32 Þo is heued was of i-smite. c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. v. 170 (MED) Clement þe Cobelere caste of his cloke. c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 52 Y wole leie myn arme to be smyte of. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 30 He smote a knyght on the templis that hede and helme wente of to the erthe. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 641 Bot the king..with a wysk the hed of-strak. ?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) ii. xix. sig. O iij ^v To cut of from any Trapezium..what part therof ye list. 1568 W. Turner Herbal iii. 54 Yelowe scales: whiche with a light occasion fall of. a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 449 He..of his claithis suddantlie hes done. 1646 J. Hall Horæ Vacivæ 67 The taking of the Plumets of a clocke to make it goe in the better Order. β. lOE Canterbury Psalter: Canticles xvi. 8 Ego autem evaginato ab eo ipsius gladio amputavi caput eius : ic soðliches atæh from him his hagen sweord & achearf his heauod off.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 29 Ȝif þin hefet were offe.c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 78 Hwen þe rinde is offe..hwiteð hit utewið.c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xix. 7 To ȝeue a litil boke of forsakynge, and to leeue off [v.r. forsake; L. dimittere].a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 172^v In þe seuenþe ȝere..þay brennen offe þe brestes and þere fore þey were y-clepyd Amozones.?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 31 (MED) Do off þi schone of þi fete.c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 71 (MED) Of sum þay bate offe þe nese; of sum þe eres.1535 Bible (Coverdale) Song of Sol. v. 3 I haue put off my cote.1568 E. Tilney Brief Disc. Mariage (new ed.) sig. Civ^v [He] bit off his owne tongue.1637 Decree Starre-Chamber conc. Printing §30 sig. H2^v In the pulling off the knots.1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iii. 56 Good steel breaks short off, all gray.1733 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (ed. 9) I. 8 He took aff his bonnet.a1756 E. Haywood New Present (1771) 43 Let it stew..then strain it off.1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales II. 154 The ball..struck one of the metal buttons on the breast of my coat, and glanced off.1886 Manch. Examiner 22 Feb. 6/1 The entire surface of a country..divided off into farmsteads.1929 E. Bowen Last September I. v. 58 Hercules tore off the tips of the bland leaves which kept slapping against his forehead.1967 G. Greene Chagrin in Coll. Stories (1972) 49 She took off thick winter gloves with a wringing gesture which made me think of handkerchiefs wet with grief.2001 Daily Tel. 9 July 3/3 A boy of eight has had his arm sewn back on after it was bitten off by a shark. b. In predicative use, or as object complement: = come off, cut off, fallen off, etc.; esp. = put off or taken off (as clothes, etc.); no longer on. ΚΠ a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 29 (MED) Hu mahtest þu gan to þine aȝene liche ȝif þin hefet were offe? a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 7211 (MED) If hit [sc. Samson's hair] were of, I were not þon No strenger þen anoþer mon. a1500 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 139 (MED) I wold hys hed were off by þe swere. 1530 W. Tyndale Pract. Prelates sig. Civ^v When the ringe was of, he commaunded to burye hir. 1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge ii. i. sig. C3^v (stage direct.) Enter Balurdo with a beard, halfe of, halfe on. 1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 223 With some of his Clothes on, and some off. 1797 Anecd. Ld. Chatham (ed. 6) I. xiii. 253 The blossom was off, and the fruit was set. 1868 Law Rep.: Common Pleas Div. 3 423 The horse had his bridle off and a nose-bag on. 1900 T. Dreiser Sister Carrie xv. 160 A bench-worker seen high aloft in some window, his coat off, his sleeves rolled up. 1984 I. Huggan Elizabeth Stories 58 Shoes off at the door! How many times have I told You? 2017 T. R. Schoeb & K. A. Eaton Gnotobiotics 271/3 When applied, this and subsequent tape layers should cover half of the previous tape layer (i.e., half on/ half off). c. figurative.In quot. 1710 short for ‘off their hands’. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [adverb] off1710 ?1476 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 604 If it so be that a-geyn my wyll it come of yow that I be cast off fro yowr seruyse and not wyllyngly by my desert. 1576 A. Fleming tr. Erasmus in Panoplie Epist. 356 Let us shake off this slouthfulnesse. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 96 Casteng aff al courtlie decore. a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxiv. 75 Cast of thy comfort. 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxiii. 204 The Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and Samuel, to the time of Saul, describe the acts of Gods people, till the time they cast off Gods yoke, and called for a King. 1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 248. ⁋8 The common Design of Parents is to get their Girls off as well as they can. 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 105. ¶3 Will. laught this off at first as well as he could. 1777 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip II I. vii. 184 The people threw off the reserve which they had hitherto maintained. 1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights I. ix. 181 Edgar must shake off his antipathy, and tolerate him, at least. 1900 G. Ade Fables in Slang 56 One Day he ran away with a Girl who waited on the Table at his Boarding House, and his Parents Cast him Off. 1944 L. MacNeice Christopher Columbus i. 57 They have given me all that I asked—Let Talavera laugh that off if he can. 1993 Time 4 Jan. 59/1 The Poles threw off communism in 1989, but only now do they get to tut-tut about boudoir shenanigans among high-level politicians. d. Theatre. Short for offstage adv. Also in extended use. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > stage > [adverb] > off stage off1774 offstage1861 1774 O. Goldsmith Retaliation 101 On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting, 'Twas only that, when he was off, he was acting. 1775 T. Campbell Diary 4 Mar. (1947) 44 The players..stood their ground for a long time—but were at length hissed off. 1775 T. Campbell Diary 4 Mar. (1947) 44 Mr. Vernon attempted to speak, but he w^ḍ not be heared—still the cry was off, off. 1805 T. Dibdin in G. Colman John Bull (ed. 2) Prol. p. i To whom, thus midway placed, I say, be kind, John Bull before, Oh, spare John Bull behind (pointing off.). 1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. II. 255 ‘But you must take care you don't knock a wing down...’ ‘I shall fall with my head “off”, and then I can't do any harm.’ ?1863 T. Taylor Ticket-of-leave Man i. 7 (stage direct.) The Bellevue Tea Gardens,..ornamental orchestra and concert room... Music heard off. 1909 ‘I. Hay’ Man's Man vi. 83 Portentous trampings ‘off’ announced the return of the glee~party. 1923 Referee 12 Aug. 3/3 The leopardess..was heard to roar a good deal ‘off’,..making her only appearance [on the stage]—in a cage. 1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk i. 27 Lady Elizabeth Mulhammer's voice off: Just open that case, I want something out of it. 1993 Village Voice (N.Y.) 20 Apr. 93/5 He's more playfully resourceful at making his story happen, while the characters are telling it to us, through phones, answering machines, doorbells, and assorted noises off. e. colloquial. Of an item of (esp. restaurant) food: deleted from the menu; no longer available. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > meal > menu > [adverb] off1902 on1949 1870 D. J. Kirwan Palace & Hovel x. 154 On ‘off’ days they have soup and thick gruel for breakfast.] 1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang V. 89/2 ‘Chops is hoff’ =‘there are no more chops to-day’. 1933 New Statesman 18 Mar. 331/2 All the plats du jour were ‘off’ and we bawled out the head waiter. 1953 ‘M. Innes’ Christmas at Candleshoe ii. 24 The celerity with which the less unpalatable dishes are prone to be ‘off’ in English hotels. 1966 N. Freeling Dresden Green ii. 123 Sorry sir, said the waitress in the teashop, the pudding's off. We can do you a nice ice-cream though. 1974 D. Chantler Man who Followed ii. 60 Tell the waiters..the Tutti-Frutti is off. 1993 V. Sage Mirror for Larks 42 Deaf-Aid said the steak was off. 3. a. So as to exhaust or finish; so as to leave none; to the end; entirely, completely, to a finish; as to clear off, drink off, finish off, pay off, polish off, work off, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [adverb] > to the end offeOE awayOE outc1175 the world > action or operation > completing > [adverb] offc1440 consummatively1614 completively1651 perfectively1818 eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) ii. v Hwær hie..wæteres [hæfden] þæt hie mehten him þurst of adrincan. OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 275 Ebibo, ic of adrince. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15118 To wasshenn offe þeȝȝre lic. c1440 (?a1400) St. John Evangelist (Thornton) 228 in G. G. Perry Relig. Pieces in Prose & Verse (1914) 104 (MED) Þou..saynede þe coppe owtely and suppede it off syne. 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 47 Socrates..compelled of malicious Iudges to take y^e Cup,..and so to drink it off. 1660 A. Marvell Let. 17 Nov. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 2 Some seauenteen shipps to be payd of. 1732 J. Swift (title) A proposal to pay off the debt of the nation. 1861 Temple Bar 3 141 Read the Times..and get off by heart that portion..devoted to the news of the money-market. 1890 G. A. Smith Bk. Isaiah II. xii. 202 We do not..kill them off by gladiatorial combats. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 13 Dec. 2/3 What is known amongst breeders as ‘feeding off’ for table poultry is a thriving industry. 1992 I. Banks Crow Road xi. 267 I polished off the eclair..and started eyeing up a Danish pastry. 2000 Marie Claire (Johannesburg) Oct. 142/3 This look can be achieved by blowdrying the hair with a flat paddle brush and finished off with a straightening iron. †b. Finished, worked off; done with work. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > completing > [adverb] > completed througha1616 off1683 1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. Dict. 385 A Press-man usually says, ‘I am off’, meaning he has Wrought off his Token, his Heap, his Form. 1707 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 26 Aug. (1886) II. 36 When ye Text of Livy is off I will consider. c. spec. coarse slang. To the point of orgasm, esp. ejaculation.For bring, jack, jerk, pull, suck, toss, wank, whack off, etc.: see the first element. ΚΠ 1865 ‘Philocomus’ Love Feast vi. 61 I'll jerk off, thinking of thee. 1879 Harlequin Prince Cherrytop 9 To the privy I would repair, And toss it off in the basin there. 1909 J. Joyce Let. 20 Dec. in Sel. Lett. (1975) 191 Do you frig yourself off first? 1943 P. Larkin Let. 13 Aug. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 62 So I piss about spending money,..tossing myself off (to put it crudely), and listening to Those Awful Blaring Jazz Things. 1998 G. Linehan & A. Mathews Speed3 (penultimate draft) in Father Ted (1999) 292/2 I'm having to yank meself off round the clock 'cause I'm not getting any proper sex with girls. 4. a. So as to interrupt continuity or cause discontinuance, as in to break off, cut off, declare off, leave off, switch off, turn off, etc. ΚΠ α. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 377 Leve of [L Desiste], Alwyn, wiþ þy good wille. a1425 (?a1400) Bk. Priue Counseling in P. Hodgson Cloud of Unknowing (1944) 171 (MED) It is speedful sumtyme to leue of þi corious worching in þi wittes. 1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 174 Is nane sa gude as leif of, and mak na mair stryfe. 1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. v. sig. Dd4 His deuotion..Breaking of. View more context for this quotation β. 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 31^v It will soone wax barraine, and leave off fruit bearing.1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 43 Upon Saturday..they break off worke sooner by an houre.1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 350 She was the occasion of my Ruin, for she had persuaded me to go on, when I would have left off.1818 Sporting Mag. 3 91 The match went off, and all bets were declared void.1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) II. 69 The Duke has declared off, and the wounded lover does not seem to be anxious to make his proposals of marriage.1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. xx. 309 He turned off the gas, and kissed the picture in the dark.1892 Bookman Oct. 27/2 Zola began by being an idealist. He has not left off being one.1934 F. S. Fitzgerald Tender is Night i. xxiii. 115 Claude, who was checking stock, broke off his work..to make Abe a pick-me-up.1970 D. Brown Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee vi. 132 Their grand strategy soon became apparent—..cut off supplies for Carrington's troops, isolate them, and attack.1993 N.Y. Times 13 Apr. a12/1 The authorities cut off water and electricity to the cellblock. b. Discontinued, stopped, given up; no longer in operation or going on. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > ceasing > [adverb] offa1625 a1625 J. Fletcher et al. Bloody Brother (1639) I. i. sig. C3 Those desires are off; Frayle thoughts. 1720 Amer. Weekly Mercury 8 Dec. 2/2 The Bargain made by the three Quakers for that Province is off, the Lords Justice having interposed. 1752 C. Lennox Female Quixote i. v His illness having been only a violent head-ache,..being now quite off. 1760 R. Heber Horse Matches ix. p. xxv Match off, by consent. 1785 Mrs. Fletcher in Wesley's Serm. lvii iii. 12, in Wks. (1811) IX. 36 His fever seemed quite off. 1808 Ann. 10th. Congress I. Sess. 181 If our embargo was off we should have more trade than would be enjoyed by us, if all the world were at piece. 1846 M. A. Richardson Local Historian's Table Bk. Hist. Div. V. v. 172 The boiler had been ‘off’ for two or three days. 1882 Daily News 15 Aug. 2/1 He understood that the whole negotiation was now off. 1901 Scotsman 12 Mar. 5/4 When football is ‘off’ and cricket not yet ‘on’. 1971 New Scientist 7 Jan. 18/1 The modems are silent... Power has been off for half an hour. 1989 Economist 25 Mar. 78/1 So the referendum is off, of indefinitely postponed. c. Of a person: disengaged (from), done with, no longer committed to.Now rare except in proverbial phrase to be off with the old love (before one is on with the new) and variants (the ‘old song’ frequently said to be its source has not been traced). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > separation or isolation > [adverb] > disengaged or done with off1710 1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 223. ⁋ 5 A Youth married under Fourteen Years old may be off if he pleases when he comes to that Age. a1733 Orpheus Caledonius i I'm aff with Wit. 1801 M. Edgeworth Belinda I. x. 306 I can give you my advice gratis, in the formula of an old Scotch song—‘'Tis good to be merry and wise, 'Tis good to be honest and true, 'Tis good to be off with the old love, Before you are on with the new.’ 1847 J. J. Ruskin 8 Sept. in M. Lutyens Ruskins & Grays (1972) vi. 54 You..allowed yourself to be with E in a Way which if not off the other, was in my eye wrong. 1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel III. lix. 201 She had thought herself to be off with the old love before she was on with the new. 1930 E. H. Young Miss Mole 208 But it's no good being off with the old love before you are on with the new. 1962 H. D. Lewis Freedom & Hist. v. 106 To answer effectively..required a complete departure from the romantic individualism in which Rousseau had been nurtured... But he was loath to be off with the old love, and his early individualism thus persists in his more mature thought. d. Away or free from one's work, school, service, etc. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > [adverb] > off-duty or on leave off-duty1776 on leave1811 off1853 1853 Observer 4 Dec. 5/5 Johnstone, the foreman engineer, said to me the morning of the accident, ‘You have not had a day off with this engine lately’. 1861 J. O'Neil Diary 1 Apr. in J. Burnett Useful Toil (1974) i. 78 At Low Moor there is a great many off. There is above a hundred looms standing. 1882 J. D. McCabe New York 384 Then begins five hours' patrol..after which he is ‘off’. 1883 B. Harte In Carquinez Woods ii. 51 It has been already intimated that it was his ‘day off’. 1885 A. Daly in A. Nicoll Hist. Eng. Drama 1660–1900 (1959) V. 333 (title of play) A night off; or, a page from Balzac. 1916 B. Ruck Girls at his Billet xviii. 242 I am sure your auntie..would be quite agreeable to letting us have the afternoon off for the ceremony. 1940 F. Sargeson Man & Wife (1944) 21 Of course Sally wasn't off for long. And they gave her a rise. 1968 Billboard 13 Jan. 38/2 Johnson returned to the stage after a year off to recover from injuries sustained in an auto accident. 1985 E. Leonard Glitz viii. 128 It was Anne-Marie's afternoon off. 2001 Adventure Trav. July 76/2 Break away from..‘comfort working’, where you kid yourself you're too important to be able to take time off. e. to be off sick: to be absent from work, school, etc., owing to illness. ΚΠ 1912 A. B. Paine Mark Twain II. cix Every boy has played off sick to escape school.] 1917 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 25 675 She suffered from severe headaches and had been off sick ten days. 1964 G. L. Cohen What's Wrong with Hospitals? i. 22 Working people still talk about ‘going on the Panel’ when they're off sick, and don't see why they should use another term. 1985 Guardian (Nexis) 23 Oct. One man is still off sick, and two others are suspected of having had the disease. 2000 A. Bourdain Kitchen Confid. (2001) 90 He's the reason I am never off sick, go to sleep every night running tomorrow's prep lists and menus through my mind. 5. a. At a distance; distant (in space or time); away; (also) not on target. Often after a statement of the distance; also in far off or (now rare) afar off.Frequently preceding another adverbial expression of location, as off to the side. ΘΚΠ the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adverb] wideOE awaya1375 upon farc1380 offc1400 aferroma1425 at length?1611 in distans1645 the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adverb] > at or to a distance ferrenc888 farc900 longOE afarc1300 yond13.. on length1340 alonga1382 adreigha1393 on dreicha1400 afar offc1400 far-aboutc1450 alengtha1500 distantlya1500 remote1589 remotely1609 yferrea1643 out of his (her, its, etc.) way1650 adistance1807 away1818 way1833 way1833 way off1836 way out1840 α. c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 3920 (MED) Of Perce Ich am, fer of by est. c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 213 One come and sayd that she was ix myle of. a1500 Disciplina Clericalis in Western Reserve Univ. Bull. (1919) 22 66 (MED) He left to hym no friend..fled fer of. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xxvi. f. xxxix Peter folowed hym a farre of [so 16th c. vv., 1611 off]. β. 1573 J. Sanford tr. L. Guicciardini Hours Recreat. (1576) 213 Greete a redde man and a bearded woman three myles off.1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 610 A little off runneth a River.a1625 J. Fletcher Humorous Lieut. i. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) 124/2 No; beleeve sir, I would have him fight, but not so far off from me.1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 14 We see the Cape or extreame point of Africk 12 leagues off.1671 R. Montague in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 501 These are projects a great way off.1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xv. xii. 294 A Street or two off . View more context for this quotation1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. i. 12 I think, thine own band lies as far off as York.1824 S. Ferrier Inheritance (1882) I. xviii There's a barber's bairn twa doors aff that wad maybe be glad o' them.1874 G. W. Dasent Half a Life II. 173 We shall meet at Oxford in October, not much more than a month off.1889 Testimony Alleged Election Outrages Texas (U.S. Senate, 50th Congr., 2nd Sess.) 717 Q. Is Watts's house on the main road?—A. No; it is off to the side.1897 H. Caine Christian i. xi. 50 Glory stood off from the looking-glass and looked.1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear ii. v. 263 Chester Wilcox lived..about five miles off in an adjacent valley.1977 H. Kaplan Damascus Cover (1978) iv. 33 On the pistol range Ari discovered..that his aim was way off.1988 Which? June 267/2 The benefits are..some years off.1999 R. Tremain Music & Silence (2000) ii. 211 They have a destination and it is not far off.2004 Trail May 105/1 Ignore a stile and path off to the left, keeping to the right of a wire fence. b. figurative. Distant or remote in fact, nature, character, feeling, thought, etc.; far from what is true, accurate, or likely to be the case. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [adverb] > far or very different from far1534 offa1555 a1555 N. Ridley Wks. (1841) 173 So far off is it that they do confirm this opinion of transubstantiation, that [etc.]. ?1571 tr. G. Buchanan Detectioun Marie Quene of Scottes sig. Biiij So far was it of that hys lodging and thynges..was prouidit for him..that he found nat any ane token toward him of a freindly minde. a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. ii. 60 That's off, that's off. View more context for this quotation a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 280 Cæsar..was altogether off from thinking it probable. 1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 148 This, I say, was only a Rumour... But it was not so far off from being a Reality, as it has been thought. 1809 Deb. Congr. U.S. 26 Jan. (1853) 1185 Mr W[illiams] hoped these [expenditures] were not intended to enforce the embargo. If they were, he was entirely off. 1887 Presbyterian Banner (U.S.) Oct. The leader..is not merely off on the subject of future probation, but also with regard to the Lord's day. 1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant xvi. 231 I may be off in sizing this thing up, because it's a little out of my line. 1930 Publishers' Weekly 8 Feb. 714/1 In proportion to its [sc. Baltimore's] population and wealth, its book sales are away off. 1994 Brit. Bike Mag. Mar. 62/1 I'm at a loss now,..perhaps I'm way off in assuming carburation. c. Nautical. At a distance from the land; offshore. ΚΠ 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. i. 76 The remnant Northward lying off from Trent. View more context for this quotation 1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World iii. 44 In the morning we descryed a Sail off at Sea. 1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 26 I lay off at an Anchor. 1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Off When a ship is beating to windward, so that by one board she approaches towards the shore, and by the other sails out to sea-ward, she is said to stand off and on shore, alternately. 1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxix. 327 Ten or a dozen men, with their trowsers rolled up, were constantly going, back and forth, from the platform to the boat, which was kept off where she would just float. a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) x. 226 Standing southerly off into sea the rest of that day and the night following, with a fresh gale of wind, in the morning we found ourselves embayed with a mighty headland. 1990 T. Cunliffe Easy on Helm xv. 126 Some berths, on some occasions, will be impossible to enter directly under sail... Either you forget the whole thing, or you anchor off and warp in. 6. a. In the way of abatement, diminution, disappearance, or decay, etc.; as in to fall off, cool off, go off, wear off, etc. ΚΠ 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ii. 107 Loue cooles, friendship fals off, brothers diuide. View more context for this quotation 1632 in S. R. Gardiner Rep. Cases Star Chamber & High Comm. (1886) 121 Judgment was stayed and the Costes taken off. 1797 Monthly Mag. 3 501 Out of every thousand men, 28 die off annually. 1826 Examiner 695/1 The novelty had gone off a little. 1862 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. i. ii. 41 They'll cool off when they come to understand. 1893 National Observer 7 Oct. 536/1 The place seemed to have gone off a good deal. 1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers i. 16 But although he was very steady at work, his wages fell off. 1964 I. Murdoch Italian Girl i. v. 67 The first shock seemed now to have worn off, the horror was dulled. 1989 Independent 30 Nov. 4 The steep increase in infections which we saw in 1988 has plateaued off. 2001 Total DVD Feb. 127/2 The galaxy of extras on the disc makes it worth checking out, even if the novelty of the movie itself has worn off. b. By way of a discount or reduction in price (of a specified amount). Cf. sense B. 5. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > low price or rate > low price [preposition] > reduced by specified amount off1881 society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > low price or rate > [adverb] > to or at reduced price > by specified amount off1881 1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel II. xxxi. 103 I made the fellow give me twenty per cent. off. 1965 New Statesman 9 Apr. 562/1 Don't be put off by the fact that both packets also say ‘3d off’. 1968 ‘J. le Carré’ Small Town in Germany v. 71 Don't matter what you fancy: radios, dish-washers, cars; he'll get you a bit off, like. 1997 H. H. Tan Foreign Bodies (1998) xvi. 149 They're selling a laser-disc player, thirty per cent off. c. Of stocks, shares, etc.: down or lower in value or price (by a specified amount, esp. a number of points). ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adverb] > lower in price or value below par1726 off1929 1929 Times 30 Oct. 14/1 Duke Power ‘opened’ at 130 off 39½ points, Newhaven Railway at 90 off 18. 1931 Daily Express 21 Sept. 14/4 Japanese bonds were only slightly off. 1964 Financial Times 12 Mar. 21/5 Belfast Ropework were 6d off to 35s 6d. 1977 Times 19 Nov. 17/5 By the close the FT Index was just 0·5 off at 480·5. 1994 Daily Tel. 22 June 26/7 The Dow closed off almost 34 points at 3708.29. 7. Opening or turning out from; adjacent, adjoining. Cf. sense B. 8. ΘΚΠ the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb] > adjacently > to that thereuponc1275 off1852 1852 M. S. Turner Let. Aug. in R. Stuart et al. Stuart Lett. (1961) I. 389 Well, we have two rooms, as large as your green room—& a shed room off, that is soaked with water when it rains. 1970 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird ii. 20 My room had a balcony and a bathroom off. 1991 J. Neel Death of Partner 96 There's a nice little flatlet on the second floor. Bathroom, bedroom with double bed, kitchen off. II. Phrases and idiomatic uses. 8. With main verb (as come, go, take, etc.) implied. Also with with preceding a noun phrase (as object of the implied transitive verb). a. Usually with modal auxiliary. See also off v. (in various senses). ΚΠ eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxv. 239 Ac ðonne hwa on ða leasunga befehð, ðonne ne mæg he of, ac sceal ðonne niede ðencean hu he hie gelicettan mæge. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 2535 Awei he warp his gode breond & of mid þere burne. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 443 (MED) He ȝaf dome..þat his heed schulde of. c1450 (c1398) in C. Horstmann Sammlung Altengl. Legenden (1878) 187 (MED) Hire hede shalle ofe fulle sekyrly To morne. c1475 Mankind (1969) 437 (MED) Wyll ȝe of wyth hys hede! 1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies ii. 218/2 Most part of them paint their bodies,..which colour wil not off. a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) ii. iii. 64 Ile off, But first, Ile do my errand. View more context for this quotation 1617 B. Rich Irish Hubbub (1623) 24 He that pledgeth must likewise off with his cap. 1625 R. Jobson Pilgrimes II. vii. 923 We made an offer to shoot, but the Peece would not off. 1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 111 If hee returned without victory, hee knew his head should off. 1646 N. Lockyer Serm. 19 I cannot hand off nor heart off. 1753 S. Foote Englishman in Paris ii. 43 We'll off in a Post-Chaise directly. 1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped iii. 24 I'll aff and see the session clerk. 1960 J. Barth Sot-weed Factor ii. xii. 236 Give him ten pound and a fortnight to idle, he'll off to the shop for a great French shag and a ha'peck of powder. 1994 R. Wallace Time's Fancy 9 Who'll off to market, singing cows, cows? b. In imperative phrases. off! = stand off! be off! off with (something): take off (something). off (with you)!: go away! Cf off v. 2. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [interjection] begonec1370 hencec1390 avauntc1485 vaunt1598 off1717 twenty-three1930 the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [phrase] here lies our way1609 go scrape!1611 off (with you)!1809 on your way1865 twenty-three skidoo1926 (get) on your bike1980 c1475 Mankind (1969) 88 (MED) Anon of wyth yowr clothes. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. vi. 74 Off with his sonne Georges head. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. i. 152 Off with't while 'tis vendible. View more context for this quotation a1631 J. Donne Poems (1669) 98 Off with that wyerie Coronet and shew The haiery Diadem which on your head doth grow. 1717 E. Smith Phædra & Hippolytus v. 54 Off, or I fly for ever from thy sight. 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. ii. vii. 246 Off with you! and do not return. 1822 Ld. Byron Vision of Judgm. xciii Some cried ‘Off, off!’ As at a farce. 1877 C. H. Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 402 Off with your caps and throw them up and cry ‘Hurrah!’ 1955 D. Eden Darling Clementine (1959) 76 Now off to bed with you and no more calling out. 1991 G. Eisman tr. S. Ousmane Niiwam & Taaw 12 ‘Come on, off with you,’ Malan the conductor shouted at them. c. In imperative phrases, with keep or take implied, as fingers, mitts, paws, (etc.) off! Earliest in hands off!: see hands off int.paws off, Pompey!: see paw n.¹ 2c. ΚΠ a1593 C. Marlowe Massacre at Paris (c1600) sig. B8 Hands of good fellow, I will be his baile. 1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. D^v Gods pittikins, hands off sir, heers my Lord. 1760 A. Murphy Way to keep Him 4 Will. Come and kiss me, you jade, come and kiss me. Muslin. Paws off, Cæsar. 1871 C. M. Yonge Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe i. 8 Mustn't touch, my dear, only look; paws off. 1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island iii. xiv. 114 ‘Hands off!’ cried Silver, leaping back a yard. 1967 T. Hughes Wodwo ii. 127 Girl: Put them down. Ripley: Fingers off. 1998 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 20 July 1 c In the meantime, mitts off the lemon drops; they're mine. †9. (either) off or on: (either) one way or another, in any way. neither off nor on: without reference, irrelevant (to); neither here nor there. See also off and on adv. Obsolete (in later use Scottish). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > relevance or pertinence > [phrase] > irrelevant of purpose (also (out) of (a) (set) purpose)a1382 wide of (also from) the mark1536 neither off nor on1549 from the purpose1561 from (also out of) the bias1600 from the matter1658 (off) at, in, upon a tangent1825 1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 6th Serm. sig. Ti^v It was neyther of nor on, to that that Paule say. 1570 Mariage Witte & Sci. iv. i. sig. Di In good earnest Madam, speake of or on, Shal we speede at your hand, or shall we begone. 1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 826 Than chuse the to vse the Be vs or sic as ȝone Say sone now, have done now; Mak outher off or on. 1861 J. Barr Poems 170 Sae I'll be aff or on wi' her And that this very nicht. 10. Preceded by better, worse, badly, comfortably, etc.: situated in a specified way, as regards wealth, material goods, or other personal considerations; circumstanced or conditioned in the manner described. Also after how (as ‘how are they off?’, ‘how are you off for (something)’). Frequently (and earliest) in well off adv. See also bad off at bad adv. 2, badly off at badly adv. 2c, better off adv., worse off adv. [Probably from to come off at come v. Phrasal verbs 1: just as a person who has ‘come well out’ of a doubtful affair is said to be ‘well out’ of it, so a person who has ‘come well off’ from (or in) a struggle may be said to be ‘well off’; compare especially quots. 1733, 1740, 1762. The most common use may be explained as ‘that has come off, or fared (well or ill)’, in the battle of life.] ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > circumstance or circumstances > [adverb] > circumstanced or conditioned off1715 1715 C. Johnson Country Lasses iv. 55 An ill-natur'd old Puppy, to engage a Man in a Quarrel too—However I think I am pretty well off; this is much better than the Discipline of Towser and the Ditch. 1733 J. Swift Apol. 55 Since I 'scap'd being made a scoff, I think I'm very fairly off. 1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 251 Let me sit down, Miss, anywhere..for I have been sadly off. 1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 98 Marriage is at present so much out of fashion, that a lady is very well off, who can get any husband at all. 1776 C. Lee in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) II. 485 How are you off in the article of intrenching tools? 1845 J. B. Mozley Laud in Ess. (1892) I. 179 The clergy..had lost the advantages of obits [etc.], and were miserably off. 1851 H. Mayo On Truths Pop. Superstit. (ed. 2) 186 The earth is the best off. 1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iv. xii. 265 I am in another way of business. And I am rather better off. 1873 M. Oliphant Innocent III. xxi. 351 He was not well enough off to marry. 1884 H. Spencer in Contemp. Rev. June 772 While to the well-off the exaction means loss of luxuries, to the ill-off it means loss of necessaries. 1884 G. Allen Philistia III. 161 They are very badly off, poor people. 1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xcvi. 508 She knew that they were comfortably off. 1956 A. J. Cronin Crusader's Tomb 184 If you are worse off than I, then you are badly off indeed. 1978 T. Murphy Crucial Week in Life Grocer's Assistant i. 16 How are you off for tea? 2001 Independent 12 July i. 3/1 An annual assessment of the capital's wealth has revealed that Londoners..are no better off than the rest of the nation. 11. Indicating precedence in time, as bang off, right off, straight off: straightaway, forthwith, immediately (see bang v.¹ 8d, right adv. 3b, straight adj. 2c). first off, next off: first, next, in sequence (see first adj., adv., and n.² Phrases 2g, next adj., adv., and n. Compounds 3). 12. Used with a preceding numeral to represent a quantity in production or manufacture, or an item or number of items so produced. Usually as one off: see one-off n. Cf. once-off adj. and n. at once adv., conj., adj., and n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > only one > [adverb] > once onceOE onefold?a1804 off1934 1934 Proc. Inst. Brit. Foundrymen 26 552 A splendid one-off pattern can be swept up in very little time. 1935 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 39 41 One off per machine does not give us much opportunity for reducing production costs. 1947 J. G. Crowther & R. Whiddington Sci. at War 49 Manufacturers found it very difficult to give up mass production, in order to make the 200 or so sets ‘off’. 1954 Archit. Rev. 116 411/2 Hills built the first part of Cheshunt as a ‘one off’ job, with no guarantees of further business, though of course it was intended to be the first of a line. 1970 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 30 Oct. 205/2 Without barrier coats mould breakdown can start after 60 units off. 1973 Physics Bull. Apr. 238/2 (advt.) Kienzle printers. 6 off, surplus to manufacturing requirements. 2002 P. Clabburn Shawls (ed. 2) 5 (caption) A superb shawl, probably a one off, named ‘the Bishop's wife's shawl’ at Carrow House. III. Followed by prepositions, in all senses. 13. a. Followed by from. ΚΠ c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 10 (MED) An hospitall howse a litill lenger of from the chirche..he began to edifie. c1475 tr. Henri de Mondeville Surgery (Wellcome) f.149^v (MED) Þe roller schal be first wounden twoward þe body..wyndynge þe roller vp to þe parties þat ben aboute wel fer of from þe wounde. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. viii. f. x^v A good waye off from them. 1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth viii. sig. D.iv Stand or syt a good waye of from the fyre. 1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World v. 109 The wind is commonly off from the Land. 1757 E. Perronet Mitre (new ed.) i. cclxxv. 60 For she's not farther off from home, Than home is far from her. 1871 T. Carlyle in J. W. Carlyle Lett. & Memorials (1883) III. 200 She wished to be off from the July bargain. 1904 W. H. Smith Promoters i. ii Just as surely as you can take that bottle off from the table. 1940 H. J. Grossman Guide to Wines, Spirits & Beers ix. 110 When all the wine is drawn off from the butts in the uppermost tier, new butts of fresh wine..replace the empty casks. 1992 Which? Aug. 434/2 Internal door leading off from the living-room doesn't have safety glass. b. Followed by of. In later use colloquial (nonstandard) and regional. Cf. offa prep., offen prep. ΚΠ ?c1450 in G. Müller Aus Mittelengl. Medizintexten (1929) 116 (MED) Take a sponfull of þe licour..of of þe fyir and sette it in good place tyl þat it be ny colde, soo as þou mayst suffryn to holdyn þer-in þin hand. 1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) vi. f. 76 His eye went neuer off of hir. 1584 R. Norman tr. C. Antoniszoon Safegard of Sailers f. 49 The souther head of the Goodwin [sands] and the point at Douer, lie the one off of the other southwest and northeast. 1589 ‘M. Marprelate’ Iust Censure & Reproofe sig. C.iiij^v To deale in such a suite, were to rebell against her Majestie, to pull the crowne off of her head,..and to shake off all authoritie. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) ii. i. 98 A fall off of [1594 Falling off on] a Tree. View more context for this quotation 1667 A. Marvell Let. 23 Nov. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 61 The Lords and we can not yet get of the difficultyes risen betwixt us. 1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 49 About a furlong off of the Porters Lodge. View more context for this quotation 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 181 We were some three Leagues off of Sannas. 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 306. ⁋6 I could not keep my Eyes off of her. 1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 281 I had perswaded him off of that. 1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. xiii. 132 Biting my lip, [was to indicate] Get off of that, as fast as possible. 1775 P. Oliver in T. Hutchinson's Diary 7 Dec. I. 581 A Rebell Pirate..taken..off of Cape Ann. a1805 in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1894) V. ix. 106/2 Aff o the weather [read wether] he took the skin, An rowt his bonny lady in. 1824 J. Wight Mornings at Bow St. 21 Two young men..were charged by a watchman with having ‘bother'd him on his bate,’ and refused to ‘go along off of it when he tould 'em.’ 1843 T. C. Haliburton Attaché II. xii. 210 The groom has stole her oats, forgot to give her water, and let her make a supper sometimes off of her nasty, mouldy, filthy beddin'. 1868 J. Hartley Clock Almanack in Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. (1895) 5 Oct. He connot forshame To lift up his een off o' th' graand. 1875 P. Brooks New Starts in Life viii. 129 If you could have filled his pockets with gold, and feasted his hunger off of silver dishes. 1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn vi. 45 I'd borrow two or three dollars off of the judge for him. 1909 G. Greig Mains's Wooin' 6 He's swallowed the dictionar', min, an's tryin' to get 'er aff o's stammack. a1922 T. S. Eliot Waste Land Drafts (1971) 5 The reputation the place gets, off of a few barflies. 1962 F. Norman Guntz i. 15 I got hold of this very very old typewriter off of a friend of mine. 1974 J. Stubbs Painted Face xxiii. 284 Get off of me, will you, sir? 1990 B. Roche Poor Beast in Rain ii. i. 44 I was hangin' around here all the time, gettin' sweet nothin' off of you. B. prep. I. Of motion or direction. 1. a. Of removal from a position on, attached to, or in contact with (anything): away from, down from, up from, so as no longer to lie, rest, or lean on. ΘΚΠ the world > space > direction > in the direction of [preposition] > away from offeOE fromwardsc1000 from offlOE frowardsc1175 fromward?c1225 α. eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 797 Her Romane..hine of his setle afliemdon. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Se kyng alihte dune of his hors. c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 66 Crist..niðer asteah of heofenum. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 201 We habbeð don of us þe ealde man. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 15375 Heo..droh of hire uingre an of hire ringe. c1330 Gregorius (Auch.) (1914) 744 (MED) Þe chaunber dore of hokes sche hent. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 208^v Leues falleþ of trees in wynter tyme. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 15024 (MED) Bifor þair king þe childer kest branches þai brack of bogh. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 608 Whan he sawe sir Trystram, he alyght adowne of his horse. a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) 2798 Of his hors he felle vppon the playn. 1519 in J. S. Clouston Rec. Earldom of Orkney (1914) 94 That the nichtbouris..sall keip thair guidis af the ground of Sabay. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 321 Syne af his hors amang thame fell doun deid. 1575 in J. Fullarton Rec. Burgh Prestwick (1834) 76 Scho to be benneist & scurgit af the towne. c1580 ( tr. Bk. Alexander (1925) I. i. 1221 All suddanly the hede can [he] tak Baith of the knycht and of the steid. 1642 tr. J. Perkins Profitable Bk. iii. §209. 93 To deliver seisin of land by force off a feoffment, is to remove all persons of the land. 1650 J. Nicoll Diary (1836) 14 To convoy his heid af the prick quhairon it was set. 1665 A. Marvell Let. 22 Oct. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 41 Our nauy is speeding to chase the Dutch again of our Seas. 1692 in J. D. Marwick Rec. Convent. Royal Burghs Scotl. (1880) IV. 663 The heavie burdenes..made sixteen families..remove of the place..being brock. β. ?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 6 Foure graynes of þe same tree þat his fader ete þe appel off.1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) ii. 428 Then off his hand the brydill yhed.c1550 Clariodus (1830) iii. 2280 [Her] aff the land thay gart promit to go.1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 89 His Kerchefe was pulled off his head.a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. i. 70 How she waded through the durt to plucke him off me. View more context for this quotation1670 J. Narborough in Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) i. 84 And gathered several green Apples off the Trees.1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 160. ¶7 Take thine Eyes off the Bridge, said he.1743 H. Walpole Lett. (1857) I. 226 A man falling off a ladder.1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. xii. 261 I daresay he wad gar them keep hands aff me.1873 C. Kingsley Prose Idylls 129 The sheep have been driven off the land below.1881 J. F. T. Keane Six Months in Meccah vi. 158 I came across an object that nearly brought me off my beast.1902 R. Bagot Donna Diana xiii. 139 Leaving his housekeeper to clear away the empty plates and dishes and sweep the breadcrumbs off the wine-stained table cloth.1955 E. Bowen World of Love vi. 109 He had taken the chimney off the low-burning oil lamp.1989 Evening Tel. & Post (Dundee) 26 May 11 200 men had escaped off the rig. b. figurative. From resting, depending, determining, etc., upon; as off one's hands (see hand n. Phrases 1h(a)), off one's head (see head n.¹ Phrases 1h), etc. ΚΠ α. c1400 J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 291 Vnderstond, ȝe kingis; and schaak of ȝou rudenesse, ȝe þat jugen londis. c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) i. iv. §10 To put our men af their errour. β. 1533 Rec. Dumfries Burgh Court in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue f. 136^v, at Of Cum doun off jugement owt of the bar.a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) ii. iii. 233 Thou hast a sonne shall take this disgrace off me. View more context for this quotation1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. i. 52 If we took such Foals off their Dams the first Week they were dropt.1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iv. ii. 187 He hath taken several Poor off our hands. View more context for this quotation1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. i. ii. 16 An honest jockey who would take it [sc. my mule] off my hands.1889 ‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob (1891) 152 That woman must be going off her head.1894 A. Conan Doyle Mem. Sherlock Holmes 215 I have been off my head ever since the blow fell.1903 A. H. Lewis Boss xix. 264 She's off her trolley. She toins sick; an' in a week she croaks.1930 Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Va.) 2 Oct. 1/2 The..Foot Ball Team..played the team over there off their feet.1948 M. Laski Tory Heaven ix. 131 I do hope you'll like my biscuits..my hubby—I just can't keep him off them.1980 D. D. Burns Feeling Good (1981) 396 When it is time to go off the medicine, it would be advisable to do this gradually.1993 U. Chatterjee Last Burden (1994) iv. 182 Now that you're back, you can bicker with him, and keep him off my back awhile. 2. from off, fro off: off from, off. Cf. sense A. 13. ΘΚΠ the world > space > direction > in the direction of [preposition] > away from offeOE fromwardsc1000 from offlOE frowardsc1175 fromward?c1225 lOE Canterbury Psalter i. 4 Tanquam pulvis quem proicit ventus a faciae terrae : swa þet dust þet se wind aworpet from of ansine eorþan. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 25596 (MED) Ihesus, þou was tane fra of þe crosse. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. iii. sig. Ee4^v Shall..Quite from th'earth [Faults Escaped; ‘of the earth’], their memory be raste? a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) i. i. 145 Would I might neuer stirre from off this place. View more context for this quotation 1655 J. Phillips Satyr against Hypocrites 20 And then she shook the crums From off her apron white, and pickt her gums. 1718 A. Ramsay Christ's-kirk on Green iii. xvi I'se rive frae off ye'r hips the hool. 1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 135 Wiping them [sc. tears] away from off the cheeks of the first and fairest of women. 1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto II lxxxviii. 163 As if to win a part from off the weight He saw increasing on his father's heart. 1842 D. Vedder Poems 84 Slates an' tiles, frae aff the houses, On the causey crown played smash. 1845 ‘Bon Gaultier’ Ballads 90 He lighted down from off his steed. 1923 Edinb. Evening News 29 Mar. 7/3 Pu' a bit heather frae off the Pentlands. 1952 ‘C. S. Forester’ Lieutenant Hornblower xv. 217 Hornblower extended his hand and picked a thread of oakum from off Buckland's lapel. 1998 R. Antoni World of Canes in S. Brown & J. Wickham Oxf. Bk. Caribbean Short Stories (1999) 407 Mr. Bootman would pick up the nuniforms from off the ships in the harbour. 3. a. Of a source: from the charge or possession of; esp. with take, buy, borrow, hire, etc. Also expressed by from prep. Cf. of prep. Now chiefly colloquial. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [preposition] > from or coming from offc1330 from1748 c1330 Otuel (Auch.) (1882) 599 (MED) Otuel caste of his hond Corsouse, his gode brond. a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 843 (MED) Holy watyr take of þe prestys hand. c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 188 (MED) He [sc. a dog]..wolde neuer eate meate of no mans hand. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Chron. xxxv. 11 And they kylled the Passeouer, and the prestes toke it off their handes, and sprenkled it. 1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. i. 33 These Lines are taken off a Scale, that is divided into 20 parts to an Inch. 1753 W. Hogarth Anal. Beauty x. 108 It was drawn from a plaster-of-Paris figure cast off nature. 1885 Act 48 & 49 Victoria c. 41 §9 (3) A grand jury may..present any sum, to be raised off the county at large..for the purpose. 1891 C. T. C. James Romantic Rigmarole 36 A villager had come..to know whether Blincoe ‘would take a goose off him’. 1897 Daily News 1 June 3/5 She admitted borrowing the 1l. off the plaintiff. 1915 J. Conrad Victory II. vii. 139 In the evening we four sat round a bit of fire outside the sleeping-shed, eating broiled fish off plantain leaves. 1967 A. Christie Endless Night xvii. 159 We..chose steak and kidney pie off the menu and started. 1974 Liverpool Echo (Football ed.) 12 Oct. 1/2 Foggon went racing through again, but Boersma took the ball off him with a splendid sliding tackle. 1993 V. Seth Suitable Boy (1994) ix. 652 He enclosed the small snapshot of Lata he had got off the Mehras. b. Cricket and Baseball. From the delivery of (a ball); from the bowling or pitching of (a player); from all the balls in (an over, inning, etc.). ΚΠ 1839 Bell's Life in London 1 Sept. 4/2 Redgate now came out, and made a three off his first ball. 1859 All Year Round 23 July 305/2 He caught two of the town off my first ‘over’. 1882 Daily Tel. 24 June He next took Ramsay round to the leg boundary, and shortly stole a single off him also. 1899 N.Y. Times 7 Sept. 9/1 (heading) McJames' Steady Pitching. The Local nine made four hits off his delivery. 1935 Times 6 June 6/2 Hopwood was missed at short-leg off Reed when 15. 1991 M. Mantle My Favorite Summer iii. 33 The one that most people talk about is a ball I hit off Chuck Stobbs in 1954. 2000 Illawarra (Austral.) Mercury (Nexis) 19 Oct. 46 Keira under 13s need five runs to win off the final over. 4. Of material or substance, with dine, eat, etc. to live off: to subsist on, derive food, etc., from; (figurative) to be supported by. ΚΠ 1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 305 He always..eats a supper off pork steaks, nearly raw. 1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales II. xxix. 216 Each day the convict sits down to dinner off either beef, pork, or plum-pudding. 1861 G. Meredith Evan Harrington I. viii. 124 An old gentleman who had dined there..four days in the week, off dishes dedicated to the particular days. 1885 W. D. Howells Rise Silas Lapham xxiii. 417 It's my business who lives off me; and so I tell you..I'm willing to take care of Zerrilla. 1913 H. Footner Jack Chanty 68 The Indians..live off the land during the summer. 1923 J. Buchan Midwinter ix. 150 He breakfasted..off cold beef and beer. 1970 Daily Tel. 12 Sept. 5/7 They lived off their recycled body wastes. 1995 Guardian 29 June (OnLine section) 2/4 They also found evidence that Boxgrove Man had dined off horse, rhino, red deer and cave bear. 5. Of deduction or lessening: from. ΚΠ 1848 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. (ed. 7) I. iii. 224 The sums..which she saved off her allowance. 1871 G. MacDonald At Back of North Wind xiv. 148 He took a pound off what he had meant to ask for him, saying to himself it was a shame to part old friends. 1975 A. Beevor Violent Brink i. 5 Those irritating bits of paper offering her money off things she did not want. 1992 Wall St. Jrnl. 29 Dec. a2/4 GM is knocking $2,000 off the price of its Chevy S10 Blazer. II. Of position. 6. a. Nautical. To seaward of; at a short distance to sea from; (also) away from (the wind). off and on: alternately away from and towards (the shore). See also offshore adv. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > [adverb] > to seaward of off?a1610 ?a1610 A. Montgomerie Poems (1887) xlviii. 156 The roks lay off the land. 1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. iv. 138 Ready to give his best Judgement of his Distance off the Shore. 1707 W. Funnell Voy. round World v. 126 Off it lie two Rocks or small Islands. 1708 London Gaz. No. 4420/6 We lay off and on Buccaness all Day Yesterday. 1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 3 The Stagg Rocks off the Lizard. 1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xiii. 365 The fleet..had been stationed off the Isle of Wight. 1813 Examiner 4 Jan. 6/1 The enemy keeping two points off the wind. 1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxiii. 232 During the last twenty-four hours of the passage, we beat off and on the land, making a tack about once in four hours. 1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xvi. 256 A sea battle..was fought off the eastern promontory of the Bay of Quiberon. 1912 J. Conrad Twixt Land & Sea 11 The Stella had experienced awful weather off the Cape. 1988 D. A. Thomas Compan. Royal Navy iii. 233/2 Calder lay off Ferrol with ten of the line..: he cruised 100 miles off Finisterre. 2001 Outside Oct. 95/3 This 150-mile-long archipelago about 50 miles off Cuba's southeastern coast is home to hundreds of mangrove-and palm-dotted cays. b. Distant from (literal and figurative). ΘΚΠ the world > space > distance > distance or farness > distant from [preposition] offa1627 a1627 T. Middleton et al. Widdow (1652) iii. i. 32 Two mile off this place. 1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 375 About Two Miles off this Town. 1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. xiv. 243 He caught sight of Tessa, only two yards off him. 1885 W. D. Howells Rise Silas Lapham iii. 56 White, or a little off white. 1972 ‘H. Howard’ Nice Day for Funeral vii. 95 The time was nearly twenty minutes off ten. 2001 FourFourTwo Sept. 122/3 Whereas you would be able to stand five yards off a player in the First Division it will be two or maybe three at the most in the Premier League. c. Sport (originally Golf). With a handicap of (a specified number). ΚΠ 1890 Gloss. in H. G. Hutchinson et al. Golf (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 448 If your opponent has played one stroke more than you..your next stroke will be ‘the like’; if two strokes more..your next stroke will be ‘the one off two’; if ‘three more’—‘the one off three’, and so on.] 1954 Pop. Golf May 35/3 Fallon, playing off scratch..was round Moortown in 70 and Sand Moor in 74. 1976 Scotsman 15 Dec. 19/3 Jack Law, the Jedforest winger, is off 9 in hea[t] five. 1987 Waterski Internat. Mar. 6/2 Slalom is his favourite event, his personal best in competition is 4 at 39½ off, a mere busy short of the record. 2000 Guardian (Dar es Salaam) 27 May 20/7 While Ntege and Mabazi are six handicappers, Turya plays off handicap nine. 7. a. Away from being on; not on; esp. no longer on. Formerly also (Scottish): †away from. †off the stones: off the city pavement, out of the town (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > absence > with absence of (a thing) [preposition] > away from or out of > away from being on off1681 offen1824 ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 141 (MED) If I were of lond, þe werre suld sone bigynne.] 1681 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Glasgow (1905) III. 300 Sundrie of the counsellouris wer aff the toune. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 235/1 It is reported of the Spanish Dominions that the Sun is never off some part of it. 1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 112 As soon as the dew is off the ground. 1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. i. 50 They are all off the bridge now. 1826 J. Wilson Wks. (1855) I. 178 Whene'er I hear..o' any man being killed aff his horse. a1845 T. Hood Town & Country in Wks. (1862–3) I. 429 Not thus the city streamlets flow; They make no music as they go, Tho' never ‘off the stones’. 1870 Good Words Feb. 133/2 You can scarcely find footing when once off the beaten road. 1883 Homiletic Mag. 3 49/1 His difficulty is to keep off the topic. He can hardly be patient with the very thought of the man who does not love his Christ. 1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood iii. ii. 258 The engine was off the rails on its side in a cloud of steam. 1951 W. D. Edmonds They fought with What they Had xxxiv. 237 Most of the men kept off the subject of Christmas. 1976 T. Allbeury Only Good German ix. 61 When we got off course they sent up a chopper. 1985 G. Paley Later Same Day 169 I didn't mean to get off the subject. 2000 R. W. Holder Taunton Cider & Langdons ix. 43 [The warehouse supervisor] left the phone off the hook. b. figurative. Of state or condition: (a) away from (something normal or usual); (b) not occupied with or engaged in; disengaged from; (also) having lost interest in, averse to. off form: in bad form. off one's food: having a temporary dislike of food. off one's game: see game n. 8j. See also off-duty adv. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > inaction > idleness, lack of occupation or activity > not occupied with [preposition] off1681 the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > [preposition] > out of or from ofOE off1681 the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > unaccustomedness or state of disuse > away from (what is habitual or usual) [preposition] off1795 the mind > emotion > hatred > feeling against or a settled dislike > impulse of aversion > averse to [preposition] off1795 1681 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 67 The grand jury for Middlesex were about finding a bill against the Kings guards as rioters, but they are now off it. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. i. viii. 166 Finding it to be nought, he would have been off his bargain. 1795 ‘P. Pindar’ Pindariana 101 I am off my feeding. 1807 W. Scott Let. 14 Mar. (1932) I. 359 This principle that the pursuers are entitled to have their time compensated when they were bona fide off work. 1827 Examiner 187/2 She was scolding him, because he was off work. 1853 E. C. Gaskell Cranford iv. 74 I had a note to say her mistress was ‘very low and sadly off her food’. 1889 E. Dowson Let. 16 Nov. (1967) 117 You are perhaps right in being ‘off’ Gortsachoff's though the cooking is less deleterious than Pinolis. 1909 W. B. Yeats Let. 10 Dec. (1954) 544 She seemed as eager as ever about the play. I had thought she was off it. 1912 C. Mathewson Pitching in Pinch vii. 142 The Chicago pitchers were away off form in the series. 1929 E. Bowen Last September xxiv. 308 ‘What about their bungalow?’ ‘Oh, that was just an idea; they are quite off it.’ 1973 ‘H. Carmichael’ Too Late for Tears xiii. 153 I'm off my food, that's all. 1994 Daily Mirror 4 Oct. (TV Daily Suppl.) 1/4 Cody declares herself ‘completely off men’ as her American boyfriend dumped her for her best friend. c. Away from the consumption of (an addictive substance, etc.). Cf. on prep. 12f, 12g. ΚΠ 1839 Spirit of Times 16 Nov. 434/1 Like swearing off from liquor and going into a grog-shop.] 1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers iv. 71 You should tell him to keep off the drink. 1944 A. Wykes in Penguin New Writing 19 105 I'm off the beer. 1958 L. Uris Exodus iii. xviii. 461 I hope by the end of this week to have you completely off drugs. 1985 D. Koonitz Door to December ii. xix. 166 Help smokers get off cigarettes—by getting them onto drugs? Hells' bells. 2000 N. Griffiths Grits (2001) 21 Ee must still be off the smack. 8. Opening or turning out of; next to, leading from, not far from. ΘΚΠ the world > space > distance > nearness > near to [preposition] > in contact with > communicating with off1718 1718 in D. Robertson S. Leith Rec. (1929) II. 34 An piece of ground..to be an entry to the said John his back door off the foregate in all times coming. 1845 J. W. Carlyle Lett. I. 312 In Mary's little room (off my uncle's). 1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 201/2 Watling-street, Bow-lane, Old-change, and other thoroughfares off Cheapside and Cornhill. 1860 All Year Round 28 July 372 In a small street off one of the west-central squares. 1929 E. Bowen Last September I. i. 5 Four rooms opened off it; at any moment a door might be opened, or blow open, sending a draught down one's neck. 1966 P. O'Donnell Sabre-tooth xxi. 283 I'll show you your room. There's a shower off it. 1985 J. Mortimer Paradise Postponed xviii. 214 Henry, Agnes and their child, Francesca, moved to a flat just off the King's Road. 2000 Arena July 157/3 The Hotel de Russie, just off the newly pedestrianised Piazza del Popolo. C. n. [Chiefly absolute or elliptical uses of the adjective.] 1. Nautical. = offing n. rare (figurative in later use). ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > region of sea or ocean > [noun] > offing offa1584 offinga1600 a1584 S. Borough in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) ii. 327 The shippe lay thwart to wende a flood, in the off, at the Southsoutheast moone. 1989 Jackie 11 Nov. 6/2 All claim to be young free 'n' single at the mo and there are no plans in the ‘off’ for any of them to get hitched. 2. The condition, state, or fact of being off (in various senses). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > inaction > [noun] > fact of remaining inactive > condition or fact of being off offa1669 a1669 J. Trapp in C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David (1878) V. Ps. cxvi. 10 I have had my offs and my ons,..I have passed through several frames of heart and tempers of soul. 1895 M. M. Dowie Gallia 119 I love to feel the on and off of the break and to watch the way the pole seems to feel its way through the traffic. 1972 Guardian 2 Dec. 8/8 People were asked to turn their gas taps to ‘off’. 1995 Amer. Scientist Sept. 404/2 A snap-action light switch is an extremely simple FSA, with just two stable states—off and on. †3. A young animal taken from its mother. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1829 H. D. Best Personal & Lit. Mem. 257 To buy Lincolnshire hogs or offs, lambs taken off from their mothers. 4. Cricket. = offside n.¹ 3. off-theory n. now rare a theory that favours concentrating the fielders on the off side and bowling the ball at or outside the off stump. Cf. leg theory n. at leg n. Compounds 2b. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [noun] > side leg side?1801 offside1816 leg1833 on-side1833 off1836 on1836 long on1843 long off1854 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > [noun] > theories off-theory1883 leg theory1894 on-theory1896 1836 New Sporting Mag. 11 193 Thus if the bat be brought forward in a straight line to meet the ball moving in the same line, the ball will be struck directly to the bowler. It is on this principle, that more to the on or off, so will it be returned, and according as it is bowled, more to his left or right. 1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. viii. 388 Johnson the young bowler is getting wild, and bowls a ball almost wide to the off. 1883 W. L. Murdoch in Longman's Mag. Jan. 292 At the present time, when bowlers place their men on the off side and bowl on what I might term the ‘off theory’, batsmen should be very careful what ball they hit at. 1894 Daily News 23 Nov. 6/3 Steady cultivation of a break from the off is a better amusement than the premature affectation of being an Amphitryon. 1926 H. S. Altham Hist. Cricket xxi. 236 The off-theory was being to some extent abandoned. 1975 Cricketer May 14/2 Max Walker showed his ‘leg-cutter’ that snapped back from the off. 1988 Cricketer Aug. 19/2 Bradman hit only one four in front of the wicket on the off, but 14 to the on by means of drives and his celebrated pull. 5. colloquial. The start of a race (cf. sense A. 1f). Also (in extended use): the start (of anything), the beginning; departure; a signal to start or depart. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > beginning > [noun] ordeOE thresholdeOE frumthc950 anginOE frumeOE worthOE beginninga1225 springc1225 springc1225 commencementc1250 ginninga1300 comsingc1325 entryc1330 aginning1340 alphac1384 incomea1400 formec1400 ingressc1420 birtha1425 principlea1449 comsementa1450 resultancec1450 inition1463 inceptiona1483 entering1526 originala1529 inchoation1530 opening1531 starting1541 principium1550 entrance1553 onset1561 rise1589 begin1590 ingate1591 overture1595 budding1601 initiationa1607 starting off1616 dawninga1631 dawn1633 impriminga1639 start1644 fall1647 initial1656 outset1664 outsettinga1698 going off1714 offsetting1782 offset1791 commence1794 aurora1806 incipiency1817 set-out1821 set-in1826 throw-off1828 go-off1830 outstart1844 start1857 incipience1864 oncome1865 kick-off1875 off-go1886 off1896 get-go1960 lift-off1967 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] > start start1845 off1896 flag-fall1899 getaway1912 society > travel > aspects of travel > departure, leaving, or going away > [noun] > setting out > instance of sally1657 set-off1759 set-forth1829 take-off1928 off1968 1896 J. K. Snowden Web of Old Weaver xvii. 197 It flashed upon me that he was for off. 1946 Sporting Life 15 June 1/1 Some open betting saw Paper Weight favourite at the ‘off’. 1959 Times 14 Sept. 3/1 Matthews broke once and on the second ‘off’ knocked down the first hurdle. 1966 J. Porter Sour Cream xiv. 180 It was too late. The students nearest to him..thought this was the off. They began to move forward. 1968 ‘H. Calvin’ Miranda must Die iii. 34 ‘Time for off,’ he said... He was gone. 1973 T. Allbeury Choice of Enemies xiii. 62 Jock..waited for someone to give him the off, and James said, ‘O.K. Jock, you just give us the general picture.’ 1978 Lancashire Life Apr. 50 (caption) Tangle-wrangle: Stan Lyons waits on the slipway for the ‘off’, while helpers sort-out the lines from his harness. 1999 I. Rankin Dead Souls xi. 68 Rebus knew..how juries could decide from the off which way they'd vote. 6. U.S. regional, South African, and Indian English. A period off work, esp. a day off. See sense D. 4a.In U.S. regional use chiefly among Pennsylvania Germans; in South Africa among urban, esp. township, speakers. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > day or night holidaya1400 play-day1558 playing day1575 non Le1636 whole holiday1753 rest day1800 Sunday out1837 day off1853 evening out1870 stop-day1879 night off1885 night out1890 off1926 1926 Amer. Speech 3 463 By ‘my off is all’, a sentence heard in North Central Pennsylvania, the speaker meant that his vacation was over. 1966 L. G. Berger Where's Madam 183 The watchboy supplied by Norman's firm hadn't come back from his ‘off’. 1971 in Dict. S. Afr. Eng. on Hist. Princ. (1996) (at cited word) I get my off once a week, on Sundays. 1980 J. Cock Maids & Madams 27 The only time she sees her children is on her ‘off’ on Sunday afternoons. 1993 S. Deshpande Binding Vine 153 It's Bhaskar, inviting me to his home for lunch. ‘I thought Thursday, perhaps. I have an off, and I know you're having vacations.’ 2017 T. Peake North Facing iii. 27 Tea in the lounge—which Peggy would serve herself, Mosa having by now been given ‘off’. D. adj. (chiefly attributive). 1. a. Designating or relating to the right side of a horse, another animal, or a vehicle (opposed to the near side: see near adj. 3). Hence in compounds, as off horse (of a pair), off-foot, off-lead, off-leader, off-leg, off-ox (also figurative, a clumsy or stubborn person), off-wheel, off-wheeler. See also offside n.¹ 2. not to know (a person) from Adam's off-ox: not to know or recognize (someone) (at all) (see Adam n.¹ Phrases 3b). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [adjective] > right side of further1578 off1593 1593 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 89 1 black cart gelding with a ringe on the offer buttocke xxxiijs. iiijd. 1674 London Gaz. No 926/4 Her off Leg before Wind-gaulled. 1708 London Gaz. No. 4477/4 His off-Knee is broke. 1764 Museum Rusticum 2 xiv. 52 To drive the cart so as the off-wheel should go in the same tract that the near wheel went in before. 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts 7 70 Enables the off-horse..to walk in the furrow. 1807 Balance (Hudson, N.Y.) 25 Aug. 267 We behold a clumsy, awkward off ox trying the tricks of a kitten. 1823 J. F. Cooper Pioneers I. iv. 51 I knew just the spot where to touch the off-leader. 1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. vii. 90 Ez to the answerin' o' questions, I'm an off ox at bein' druv. 1849 T. De Quincey Vision Sudden Death in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 750/1 With the haunch of our near leader, we had struck the off-wheel. 1880 Jackson Sentinel (Maquoketa, Iowa) 25 Mar. I didn't know him from Adam's off ox, on account of the ha'r on his face. 1890 R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads (1892) 35 Two's off-lead 'e answered to the name o' Snarleyow. 1894 A. Conan Doyle Mem. Sherlock Holmes 25 Silver Blaze with his white forehead and his mottled off fore leg. 1910 J. Hart Vigilante Girl x. 140 An iron ‘jockey-stick’ ran from the near leader's hames to the off-leader's bit. 1933 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 1 Apr. 4/3 I don't know him from Adam's (or God's) off-ox. 1980 Daily Tel. 5 June 1 (caption) With a bone in his off-fore foot fractured, Henbit is led into the winner's enclosure. a2010 R. Aitken River of Heaven (2011) 114 I didn't know Buson from Adam's off ox, and only as I put this manuscript together did I realize that this verse..was written by Buson. b. Cricket. Designating the side of the field towards which the batter's feet are pointed when standing to face a delivery; (also) designating a ball, etc., hit on this side, or a batter who hits the ball in this direction. See also offside n.¹ 3. off-cutter n. a ball that deviates from the off-side to the leg-side after a fast or medium-fast delivery (see cutter n.¹ 5b (b)). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [adjective] > side off1773 on1836 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > types of delivery or ball full toss1826 long hop1830 twister1832 bail ball1833 bailer1833 grubber1837 slow ball1838 wide1838 ground ball1839 shooter1843 slower ball1846 twiddler1847 creeper1848 lob1851 sneak1851 sneaker1851 slow1854 bumper1855 teaser1856 daisy-cutter1857 popper1857 yorker1861 sharpshooter1863 headball1866 screwball1866 underhand1866 skimmerc1868 grub1870 ramrod1870 raymonder1870 round-armer1871 grass cutter1876 short pitch1877 leg break1878 lob ball1880 off-break1883 donkey-drop1888 tice1888 fast break1889 leg-breaker1892 kicker1894 spinner1895 wrong 'un1897 googly1903 fizzer1904 dolly1906 short ball1911 wrong 'un1911 bosie1912 bouncer1913 flyer1913 percher1913 finger-spinner1920 inswinger1920 outswinger1920 swinger1920 off-spinner1924 away swinger1925 Chinaman1929 overspinner1930 tweaker1938 riser1944 leg-cutter1949 seamer1952 leggy1954 off-cutter1955 squatter1955 flipper1959 lifter1959 cutter1960 beamer1961 loosener1962 doosra1999 1773 Morning Post 16 July in G. B. Buckley Fresh Light on 18th Cent. Cricket (1935) 61 Having run a considerable number of notches from off-strokes. 1836 New Sporting Mag. July 195 Crossing the leg over at off-balls is another rule that I should like to see more men adopt. 1836 New Sporting Mag. July 195 The mode of handling the bat, for ‘On hitting’ must be similar to what is requisite for ‘Off hitting’. 1836 E. Jesse Angler's Rambles 298 His off-hits between point and slip, were the admiration of the club. 1851 J. Pycroft Cricket Field vii. 151 A good off-hitter should send the ball according to its pitch, not to one point only, but to three or four. 1888 A. G. Steel in A. G. Steel & R. H. Lyttelton Cricket (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) iii. 183 Left-handed batsmen are notoriously strong and powerful in their off hitting. 1904 F. C. Holland Cricket 9 Nearly all off strokes can be classed under one of the four principal hits—the off drive, the cut drive, the square cut, and the late cut. 1955 Times 5 July 4/2 Singh..was making his off-cutters seem more sinister than one feels they really were. 1966 E. R. Dexter Ted Dexter Declares ii. 21 They gave me a bit of bowling and I started with medium-pace swingers and off cutters. 1995 Guardian 8 Aug. ii. 4/3 Ambrose takes a vast swipe, but only succeeds in deflecting Cork's off-cutter into his stumps. 2. Nautical. Further from the shore; seaward. Hence gen.: situated further off or on the far side from another object or the observer, more distant, further, far. Chiefly in offside n.¹ 1. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > [adjective] > farther from shore outc1350 off1666 offshore1840 1666 London Gaz. No. 66/4 The Lilly Fregat,..then in the off-gage of her station, near this Coast. 1745 London Mag. 397 Whilst I had to do with this Ship, the largest of all got on my Off-Bow, put me between two Fires. 1788 T. Jefferson Jrnl. 3 Mar. in Papers (1956) XIII. 9 The camel is shaped to the ship on the near side, and straight on the off one. 1833 Pearl & Lit. Gaz. 21 Dec. 79/3 I was for letting into him [sc. a bear] at once, but Zeb says..‘dont waste your powder man, I want to shoot him just under the off ear, that's the spot,’ so I held up. 1992 Women & Guns July 38/2 Actuating the laser..is accomplished by means of a toggle switch conveniently located on the left side of the mount. The off-hand can reach it easily. †3. Lying off from, situated aside from, leading out of the main part. See off- prefix 1d, in the same sense, and cf. sense B. 8. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > distance > nearness > [adjective] > adjacent > to the main part off1809 1809 R. Kerr Agric. Surv. Berwick 117 The smaller farms, which cannot be thus thrown together, owing to separations of property, are fast falling into the hands of spirited farmers, as separate or off farms. 1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 201/1 The ‘off’ parts of St. Paul's Church-yard. 1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 423/2 Friar-street is one of the smaller off thoroughfares. 1897 W. H. Thornton Reminisc. Clergyman i. 10 I rode with him one day to his off farm..and bought my first horse. 4. a. Designating a period or occasion when a person is not at work, on duty, at his or her business, at school, etc., or when normal activity, productivity, profit, etc., is diminished or suspended. Also (occasionally) in extended use, designating a person or persons not on duty, or a falling stock market. See also off-season n., off-year n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > [adjective] > at or having leisure > having time off watch-free1581 off1826 sabbatical1836 off duty1852 spare1919 1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times I. iv. 151 On Mrs. Siddons's nights, Mr. Harris (being sure of an over-flow from Drury-lane,) only put up his weakest bills, reserving the strongest for his off nights. 1843 Knickerbocker 22 325 After an ‘off night’ when I was allowed to stay in town. 1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) ix. 76 It was with a team of these very horses, on an off-day, that Miss Sharp was brought to the Hall. 1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall St. 137 An ‘off’ market, is where prices have fallen either in a week, a day, or even an afternoon. 1875 ‘M. Twain’ Old Times Mississippi ii, in Atlantic Monthly Feb. 218/2 The ‘off-watch’ was just turning in, and I heard some brutal laughter from them. 1875 All Year Round 3 Apr. 23/1 That estimable lady..had arranged those meetings on the quiet off-evenings. 1897 Manch. Guard. 16 Oct. That in future all such meetings be held on ‘off days’ in preference to ‘market days’. 1899 J. Pennell in Fortn. Rev. 65 123 This has been an off, a profitless, year in practical cycle construction. 1913 A. G. Bradley Other Days v. 161 On the rare off-days [we] raided such crows and magpies' nests as we could find. 1922 Life 6 Apr. 20/1 In the same film we see the aged philosopher as a combination of the Vagabond in ‘The Tavern’ and something that Chic Sale might do on an off-night. 1928 Weekly Disp. 18 Mar. 2/4 He'd never have picked up that skill in the Lagos Lagoon in the few off-watches he'd get from a branch-boat. 1932 E. E. Reynolds Nansen i. 9 There was plenty of fun as well as hard work. One account of an off-hour is worth extracting as illustrating Nansen's geniality in whatever company he might find himself. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 17 Jan. 19/2 Dr. Moskowitz is passionate about reading, theater, music, and writing, which is her newest off-hours activity. 1997 E. White Farewell Symphony (1998) ii. 74 On days when he was performing, Jimmy attended just one class, in the morning, but on off days he took so many that he crawled home. b. Designating a period or occasion when a person is not on his or her usual form or is feeling slightly unwell, or when any production, performance, etc., is not up to the usual standard. Also (occasionally) in extended use, designating something marked by conditions unfavourable to a good performance. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > lacking one's usual skill off1908 off form1912 1908 Sketch 11 Sept. 340/2 Rhodes had an ‘off-day’ and could do nothing. 1929 Star 21 Aug. 5/2 It was certainly Elder's off-night. He was not feeling in the best of form. 1930 F. E. Baily It won't do any Harm xiii. 260 You happened to ask me when I was in what I call an off-moment. 1959 Manch. Guardian 24 July 4/2 Tolstoy or Balzac in an off-moment might be almost anyone. 1959 T. Griffith Waist-high Culture (1960) 169 Such doubts arise in us all, at least on our off days. 1974 Index-Jrnl. (Greenwood, S. Carolina) 23 Apr. 6/6 ‘Destroyer can't handle an off track.’ On a fast track though..Destroyer looks like a Kentucky Derby winner. 1998 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 15 June e4/4 The Houston Astros took advantage of a rare off-day by closer Jeff Shaw and rallied for a win. 5. Of an electrical device: corresponding to or producing the state of being disconnected or off (sense A. 4b). Also in extended use. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > circuit > device to open or close circuit > [adjective] > turning on or off off1899 on1899 on-off1931 1899 J. Pigg Railway ‘Block’ Signalling vii. 363 In the ‘off’ position of the signal arm the switch makes such contacts as passes a ‘holding down’ current from the battery at the local station. 1935 D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night xvi. 327 The switch..stood in the ‘Off’ position, and she struck it down. 1960 Pract. Wireless 36 425/2 A two-pole toggle switch..could be used in the S1 position thus isolating the mains completely from the equipment when the switch is in the ‘off’ position. 1975 L. Deighton Yesterday's Spy vii. 52 Schlegel bashed the ‘off’ button and the music ended with a loud click. 1988 D. Lodge Nice Work i. i. 4 Vic..hits the Off button on the clock. 2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 20 Sept. 35/1 We have a new miracle drug..that ‘switches your anxiety to the Off Position’. 6. Physiology. Of, relating to, exhibiting, or designating a response to the cessation of a stimulus. Chiefly attributive. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > action of nervous system > [adjective] > electrical phenomena electromotive1800 neuroelectric1843 bioelectric1849 rheoscopic1851 anelectrotonic1862 monophasic1888 off1903 on1903 bioelectrical1910 neuroelectrical1914 rheobasic1917 myoelectric1955 myoelectrical1970 1903 F. Gotch in Jrnl. Physiol. 29 393 The third or terminal portion is a second rise due to the sudden change from light to darkness; this I propose for brevity to term the OFF effect. 1934 Jrnl. Physiol. 81 26 The increase in P III and its rapid return at ‘off’ account for the increased off-effect of the light-adapted eye. 1941 S. H. Bartley Vision xii. 287 The off-response first appears when the light flash is very short. 1948 Jrnl. Physiol. 107 57 The on-sensitivity to blue (B-on) was taken as the fundamental sensitivity... For those elements which showed no on-effect the off-sensitivity to blue (B-off) was used. 1972 H. Tamar Princ. Sensory Physiol. iv. 153/2 Some 5 per cent of all color-responsive ganglion cells seem really to have receptive fields with centers which are either ‘on’ or ‘off’ to one color. 1991 NeuroReport 2 231/2 Control the silent period of off-responses by the activation of K⁺ currents. 7. Of a taste or smell (esp. of food or drink): stale, sour, contaminated, rancid; cf. sense A. 1g(b). Recorded earliest in off-flavour n. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > qualities of food > [adjective] > stale, decaying, or infested oldeOE fustya1492 stale1530 overkept1837 overhung1895 skippery1899 off1913 1913 A. P. Hitchens in Science 12 Sept. 376/2 No off-flavor was present in normal control cheese. 1942 Science 19 June 10/1 [Dehydrated foods] become tough, or develop hay-like ‘off’ tastes and odors. 1955 F. G. Ashbrook Butchering xii. 226 The fruit residues in the vinegar may give the fish an ‘off’ taste. 1993 Dog World Oct. 38/2 Aldehydes and ketones..contribute to the ‘off’ smell and taste, but are relatively benign, as they are metabolized like sugar. Compounds In phrases with the and noun, used attributively or as adj.See also off the cuff at cuff n.¹ 2c, off-the-rack adj., off the shelf at shelf n.¹ 1e, off-the-shoulder at shoulder n. 2j, etc. off-the-course n. occurring away from a racecourse. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [adjective] > type of betting ante-post1865 off-track1931 off-the-course1951 off-course1960 on-course1964 on-track1964 1951 B. S. Rowntree et al. Eng. Life & Leisure ii. 126 ‘Off the course’ betting on greyhounds, although by no means a rarity, is not the common occurrence that it is in the case of horse races. 1991 Hist. Today Oct. 38/1 Legal off-the-course outlets for cash (ready-money) betting were introduced only quite recently, in May 1961. off-the-face adj. of a hat, hair, etc.: not covering or shading any part of the face. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [adjective] > hat > other round1565 four-corner1640 basoned1728 cockled1745 featherlessa1845 Christy1867 pullover1877 pugreed1881 sailor-shape1897 off-the-face1908 weepered1908 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 117. 1036/2 Pretty ‘off the face’ hat for children. 1992 Hair Flair (BNC) Thick wavy hair has been styled upwards..for this off-the-face look. off-the-job n. (a) done or happening away from one's work; (b) unemployed. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > lack of work > [adjective] > not working or unemployed servicelessc1450 unlabouredc1450 masterless1471 unwrought1550 unplaced1558 labourless1576 flag-fallen1609 unlabouring1619 disemployed1651 hireless1651 unengaged1654 unemployed1667 unworking1696 untoiling1748 workless1758 occupationless1822 placeless1828 out of work1833 non-working1841 unhired1852 jobless1862 out of (or in) collar1862 non-employed1876 spare1919 on the beach1923 in dry dock1927 off-the-job1950 on (also upon) the street(s)1980 unwaged1981 society > occupation and work > working > [adjective] > working > done or occurring while > not off-the-job1950 1950 Internat. Organization 4 490 The recommendations dealt also with..on- and off-the-job training, recruitment of instructors, [etc.]. 1967 Time 21 July 51 Some sort of new company-financed plan enabling an off-the-job worker to maintain ‘his normal living standard’ for up to a year. 1986 Marketing 11 Sept. 83/4 The course tries to relate off-the-job learning with an on-the-job experience. off-the-map n. insignificant, obscure, of no account or consequence. ΚΠ 1915 War Illustr. 2 328/1 One of the curious off-the-map incidents of the war was brought to notice the other day. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart i. i. 19 An off-the-map, seedy old family friend. off-the-road n. located, operated, or occurring away from roads. ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [adjective] > located or occurring away from road wayside1649 off-the-road1946 1946 Fortune Aug. 185/2 Willys will aim it [sc. a light four-wheel-drive truck] at farmers, dairymen, and others who..encounter a lot of off-the-road haulage. 1962 Guardian 4 Oct. 14/2 Off-the-road training grounds for learner drivers. 1998 Jrnl. Torrey Bot. Soc. 125 40/2 Disturbance from recreational use (e.g., trampling and off-road vehicle traffic) causes changes in foredune microclimate..and vegetation. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022). > see also also refers to : off-prefix < v.1642adv.prep.n.adj.eOE see also
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offv.

offadv.prep.n.adj.

Compounds

> see also