An office is a room or a part of a building where people work sitting at desks.
He had an office just big enough for his desk and chair.
At about 4.30 p.m. Audrey arrived at the office.
Phone their head office for more details.
...an office block.
Synonyms: place of work, workplace, base, workroom More Synonyms of office
2. countable noun
An office is a department of an organization, especially the government, where people deal with a particular kind of administrative work.
Thousands have registered with unemployment offices.
...Downing Street's press office.
...the Congressional Budget Office.
Synonyms: branch, department, division, section More Synonyms of office
3. countable noun
An office is a small building or room where people can go for information, tickets, or a service of some kind.
The tourist office operates a useful room-finding service.
...the airline ticket offices.
4. countable noun
A doctor's or dentist's office is a place where a doctor or dentist sees their patients.
[US]regional note: in BRIT, use surgery
5. uncountable noun [oft in/out ofN]
If someone holds office in a government, they have an important job or position of authority.
The events to mark the President's ten years in office went ahead as planned.
They are fed up with the politicians and want to vote them out of office.
The president shall hold office for five years.
The Vietnam War dashed President Johnson's hopes of a second term of office.
He ran for office.
6.
See good offices
7. See also booking office, box office, post office, register office, registry office
More Synonyms of office
office in British English
(ˈɒfɪs)
noun
1.
a.
a room or set of rooms in which business, professional duties, clerical work, etc, are carried out
b.
(as modifier)
office furniture
an office boy
2. (often plural)
the building or buildings in which the work of an organization, such as a business or government department, is carried out
3.
a commercial or professional business
the architect's office approved the plans
4.
the group of persons working in an office
it was a happy office until she came
5. (capital when part of a name)
(in Britain) a department of the national government
the Home Office
6. (capital when part of a name)(in the US)
a.
a governmental agency, esp of the Federal government
b.
a subdivision of such an agency or of a department
Office of Science and Technology
7.
a.
a position of trust, responsibility, or duty, esp in a government or organization
the office of president
to seek office
b.
(in combination)
an office-holder
8.
duty or function
the office of an administrator
9. (often plural)
a minor task or service
domestic offices
10. (often plural)
an action performed for another, usually a beneficial action
through his good offices
11.
a place where tickets, information, etc, can be obtained
a ticket office
12. Christianity
a. (often plural)
a ceremony or service, prescribed by ecclesiastical authorities, esp one for the dead
b.
the order or form of these
c. Roman Catholic Church
the official daily service
d. short for divine office
13. (plural)
the parts of a house or estate where work is done, goods are stored, etc
14. (usually plural) British euphemistic
a lavatory (esp in the phrase usual offices)
15. in office
16. out of office
17. the office
Word origin
C13: via Old French from Latin officium service, duty, from opus work, service + facere to do
office in American English
(ˈɔfɪs; ˈɑfɪs)
noun
1.
something performed or intended to be performed for another; (specified kind of) service
done through someone's good (or ill) offices
2.
a.
a function or duty assigned to someone, esp. as an essential part of his or her work or position
b.
the function or characteristic action of a particular thing
3.
a position of authority or trust, esp. in a government, business, institution, etc.
the office of president
4.
a. US
any of the branches of the U.S. Government ranking next below the departments
the Printing Office
b. Chiefly British
a governmental department
the Foreign Office
5.
a.
the building, room, or series of rooms in which the affairs of a business, professional person, branch of government, etc. are carried on
b.
all the people working in such a place; staff
6. [pl.] Chiefly British
the rooms or buildings of a house or estate in which the servants carry out their duties
7. [oftenO-]
a religious service or set of prayers; esp., Divine Office
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈfunction, poˈsition
Idioms:
in (or out of) office
Word origin
OFr < L officium < opificium, doing of work < opifex, a worker < opus, a work (see opus) + facere, to do1; (sense 7) ME < ML(Ec) officium, divine rite < L, ceremonial observance
COBUILD Collocations
office
constituency office
open an office
open-plan office
Examples of 'office' in a sentence
office
He looked like he'd just been called up to the headmaster's office or something.
Hugo Wilcken THE EXECUTION (2002)
The sort of worker who would always see that the office wheels never stopped turning.
Jon Cleary YESTERDAY'S SHADOW (2002)
I offloaded Jessica onto her because I wanted to go and have a look in the office.
Hugo Wilcken THE EXECUTION (2002)
The young ones from the law office, going to the Twenty-fifth Street Bridge.
Lisa Scottoline ROUGH JUSTICE (2002)
In other languages
office
British English: office /ˈɒfɪs/ NOUN
An office is a room or a part of a building where people work sitting at desks.
I arrived at the office early.
American English: office
Arabic: مَكْتَبٌ
Brazilian Portuguese: escritório
Chinese: 办公室
Croatian: ured
Czech: kancelář
Danish: kontor
Dutch: kantoor
European Spanish: oficina
Finnish: toimisto
French: bureau lieu de travail
German: Büro
Greek: γραφείο
Italian: ufficio
Japanese: オフィス
Korean: 사무실
Norwegian: kontor
Polish: biuro
European Portuguese: escritório
Romanian: birou
Russian: офис
Latin American Spanish: oficina
Swedish: kontor
Thai: สำนักงาน
Turkish: büro
Ukrainian: офіс
Vietnamese: văn phòng
Chinese translation of 'office'
office
(ˈɔfɪs)
n
(c) (= room) 办(辦)公室 (bàngōngshì) (间(間), jiān)
⇒ He called me into his office.他把我叫进他的办公室。 (Tā bǎ wǒ jiào jìn tā de bàngōngshì.)