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off(1) (iou)



off adverb, preposition, noun, & adjective. As adverb earlier of. See also OF preposition. OE.
[Var. of OF preposition (also adverb: treated here), gradually appropriated to the emphatic form.]
A. adverb.
To or at a distance, away, quite away, (in space and time). After trans. verbs also, so as to send the obj. of the verb to a distance away. OE.
afar off, far off.
T. Hardy Casterbridge, the county-town, was a dozen or fifteen miles off. J. B. Priestley And off he went. G. Household Marrin considered the Severn his private property from which trespassers must be warned off. M. Roberts Bean poles strung with black cotton to keep the birds off. D. Ayerst The 'glorious twelfth' only three days off.
b. fig. Distant or remote in fact, nature, character, feeling, thought, etc. M16.
c. Nautical. Away from land, to seaward; away from the ship. Also, away from the wind. E17.
d. ellipt. Gone off, just going off, about to go, leaving, on one's way; off to sleep, fallen or falling asleep. L18.
K. Amis Now I must be off, or I shall miss my bus. M. Ingate He's been crying all night. I've just got him off.
e. ellipt. = off one's head s.v. HEAD noun. colloq. & dial. M19.
f. In bad condition; wrong, abnormal, odd; spec. (a) off form; slightly unwell; (b) (of food) stale, sour, beginning to decay, contaminated; (c) (of behaviour etc.) unacceptable, ill-mannered, esp. in a bit off. M19.
Out of position; not on or touching or attached; (so as to be) loose or separate. OE.
W. S. Maugham She was arranging flowers..and broke off the stalks savagely. G. Greene She took off thick winter gloves. A. Carter Victoria tore the fringes off the hassocks.
b. ellipt. Come, cut, fallen, or taken off; (of clothes) removed, no longer on. LME.
J. Logan We walked in the small cool creek Our shoes off.
c. Off-stage. Also, opening out of or leading off another room etc. L18.
T. S. Eliot Lady Elizabeth Mulhammer's voice off: Just open the case. D. Halliday My room had a balcony, and a bathroom off.
So as to interrupt continuity or cause discontinuance; so as to cause temporary disconnection, inactivity, or cessation of operation (as of an electrical or mechanical device). ME.
Scott Fitzgerald Claude, who was checking stock, broke off his work. K. H. Cooper The point where anaerobics leave off and aerobics begin.
b. Discontinued, stopped, given up; no longer in operation or going on; cancelled; (of a person) disengaged. E18.
E. Bowen The only wireless..had been turned off.
c. Away or free from one's work, school, service, or other regular commitment. M19.
T. Dreiser How about tomorrow night? I'm off then. G. Charles She had been paid while she was off two mornings.
d. (Of an item of food) deleted from the menu; not available as a choice. colloq. E20.
N. Freeling Sorry sir, said the waitress..the pudding's off.
So as to exhaust or finish; so as to leave none; to the end; entirely, completely, to a finish. LME.
G. A. Smith We do not..kill them off by gladiatorial combats. F. M. Ford She poured out a wineglassful and drank it off. P. G. Wodehouse I polished off the steak.
b. Finished, worked off; done with work. Now rare. L17.
So as to (cause to) lessen, abate, diminish, or decay. E17.
D. H. Lawrence Although he was very steady at work, his wages fell off. I. Murdoch The first shock seemed..to have worn off.
b. Down or lower in value or price (by a specified amount or numbered points); down or reduced in price by a specified amount. E20.
J. T. Farrell His stocks were off eight points. J. Ashford Soup was..sold at threepence a tin off.
Situated in a specified way (well, badly, comfortably, etc.) as regards money or supplies or other personal circumstances. M18.
With a preceding numeral: produced or made at one time. Chiefly in one-off. M20.
Phrases: (A selection of cross-refs. only is included.) badly off: see BADLY adverb. be off: see BE verb. FIRST off. get off to sleep (cause to) fall asleep, esp. after wakefulness. hands off!: see HAND noun. noises off: see NOISE noun. off and on (a) intermittently, at intervals, now and again; (b) Nautical on alternate tacks, away from and then towards the shore. off and running making good progress. off from, (now colloq. & dial.) off of, (US & dial.) off on = sense B.I below. right off: see RIGHT adverb. straight off: see STRAIGHT adverb1. they're off! colloq. the race has begun. well off: see WELL adverb.
b. preposition.
I. Of motion or direction.
Away from, down from, up from; so as no longer to lie, rest, or lean on; so as to be no longer attached to or in contact with. Also from off. LME.
E. Bowen A step or two off the hearthrug. I. Murdoch I simply dived into deep water off the rocks. W. Golding To clean the dirt..off the old masters.
From the hands, charge, or possession of. M16.
R. Barnard Alison..hadn't had any money off me recently. A. Burgess I bought it off a Spaniard.
b. Derived from, taken from (also from off); Cricket from the delivery of (a ball), from the bowling of (a bowler), from all the balls in (an over). M18.
J. Tey A frayed..tartan ribbon off a box of Edinburgh rock.
Using as a source, stock, or supply. E19.
R. R. Marett The Mousterians who dined off woolly rhinoceros.
As a deduction from or lessening of. M19.
A. Alison The sums..she saved off her allowance.
II. Of position.
Distant from (in space, time, likeness, etc.). E17.
F. Chichester The difference..would tell me how far I was off the right track.
b. To seaward of; at a short distance to sea from. M17.
P. Auster On an island off the coast of Chile.
Away from being on; not on; esp. no longer on; not occupied with, relieved from, disengaged or free from, esp. temporarily; abstaining from; having lost interest in, averse to. L17.
L. Uris I hope..to have you completely off drugs. A. Carter To see me off my feed was the first cause of..concern I'd given her. A. Lurie She's probably off him for good.
Opening or turning out of, leading from; not far from. M19.
P. O'Donnell I'll show you your room. There's a shower off it. P. Ackroyd The offices..were in a small street off Piccadilly.
C. noun.
Nautical. = OFFING 1. rare. L16.
The condition or fact of being off; an instance or period of being off; the position in which an electrical device etc. is off. M17.
Cricket. The off side. M19.
The start of a race; the start, the beginning; departure; a signal to start or depart. colloq. M20.
D. adjective. (Freq. with hyphen: cf. OFF-.)
Situated further off, more distant, further, far. In earliest use Nautical, further from the shore; seaward. M17.
Designating or pertaining to the right side of a horse, other animal, or vehicle, as being opposite to the near side. Opp. NEAR adjective 2. L17.
Cricket. Designating or pertaining to the side of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) to which the batsman's feet are pointed. L18.
Designating or pertaining to a day, evening, time, etc., when a person is away or free from work, business, school, or other regular commitment. Also, designating a time when a person is off form or slightly unwell, or when any performance is not up to the usual standard. E19.
Corresponding to or producing the state (of an electrical device) of being disconnected (cf. sense A.3 above). L19.
Physiology. Of, pertaining to, or exhibiting the brief electrical activity that occurs in some optic nerve fibres when illumination of the retina ceases. E20.
Phrases, special collocations, & comb. (of preposition & adjective: cf. OFF-): (A selection of cross-refs. only is included.) off-air adjective & adverb (a) involving or by the transmission of programmes by broadcasting; (b) involving or from broadcast transmissions. off-axis adjective & adverb (situated) away from an axis. off balance: see BALANCE noun. off base: see BASE noun1 5. off beam: see BEAM noun. off-board adjective (US) designating or pertaining to stocks, bonds, etc., dealt in or sold elsewhere than at a stock exchange. off-Broadway adjective & noun (designating or pertaining to) New York theatres, theatrical productions, or theatre life outside the area of Broadway, characteristically being more experimental and less commercial. off camera: see CAMERA 4. off-campus adjective & adverb away from a university or college campus. off-centre adverb, adjective, & verb (a) adverb & adjective (slightly) away from the centre, not quite coinciding with a central position; awry, wrong; (b) verb trans. place or position off-centre. off chance a remote chance or possibility. off colour (a) (usu. off-colour) of the wrong or an inferior colour; spec. (of a diamond) neither white nor any definite colour; (b) slightly unwell, not in the best of health; (c) (chiefly N. Amer.) slightly indecent or obscene. off course: see COURSE noun1. off-course adjective situated or taking place away from a racecourse. off cutter Cricket a cutter that turns from the off side. off-design adjective not allowed for or expected. off-diagonal adjective & noun (Math.) (designating) an element of a square matrix that is not on the diagonal running from the upper left to the lower right. off-dry adjective (of wine) almost dry, with just a trace of sweetness. off duty: see DUTY noun. off form: see FORM noun. off-gauge adjective & noun (designating steel strip having) thickness outside the permitted tolerance. off-grain adverb against the direction of the threads of a fabric. off guard: see GUARD noun. off-key adverb & adjective out of tune; inappropriate(ly), wrong(ly). off limits: see LIMIT noun. off message: see MESSAGE noun. off microphone, (colloq.) off mike away from a microphone, distant from or not facing a microphone. off-off-Broadway adjective & noun (designating or pertaining to) New York theatrical productions or theatre life outside off-Broadway, characteristically being avant-garde, small scale, and informal. off one's base: see BASE noun1 5. off one's block: see BLOCK noun 6b. off one's chump: see CHUMP noun 3. off one's feet colloq. (a) to a condition of no longer being able to stand, to a point of collapse; (b) into a state of exhilaration or excitement. off one's game: see GAME noun. off one's guard: see GUARD noun. off one's hands: see HAND noun. off one's ROCKER. off-peak adjective designating or pertaining to a time when demand is not at the maximum; used or for use at times other than those of greatest demand. off-piste adjective (of skiing) away from prepared ski runs. off-pitch adjective (Music) not of the correct pitch. off-plan adverb & adjective (of the selling or purchasing of property) before the property is built and with only the plans available for inspection. off-road adjective used, for use, or taking place away from roads; on or for rough terrain. off-roader an off-road vehicle. off-roading driving over rough terrain, driving off-road vehicles, esp. as a sport. off-screen adverb & adjective (while) not appearing or occurring on a cinema or television screen or on a VDU etc. off-set adverb out of range of the cameras in a film or television set or studio. off-shears adjective (Austral. & NZ) (of a sheep) recently shorn. off site: see SITE noun. off spin Cricket a type of spin which causes the ball to turn from the off side towards the leg side after bouncing. off-spinner Cricket a bowler who bowls with off spin. off-stage adverb & adjective (while) not appearing or occurring on a stage, (so as to be) invisible or inaudible to a theatre audience. off-street adjective (esp. of parking facilities) other than on a street; not taking place on a street. off-target adverb & adjective so as to miss, that misses, a target; inaccurate(ly); on the wrong track, not as forecast. off the air: see AIR noun1 1b. off the ball (Football etc.) (with the player(s) in question) not in contact with or playing the ball. off the beam: see BEAM noun 6. off-the-course adjective = off-course adjective above. off the cuff: see CUFF noun1. off-the-face adjective (of a hat) not covering or shading any part of the face. off theory Cricket a theory that favours concentrating the fielders on the off side and bowling the ball at or outside the off stump. off the peg: see PEG noun1. off the point: see POINT noun1. off the record: see RECORD noun. off-the-road adjective = off-road adjective above. off the shelf: see SHELF noun1. off-the-shoulder adjective (of a dress, blouse, etc.) not covering the shoulders. off-the-wall adjective (slang) crazy, absurd, outlandish. off-time a time when business etc. is slack. off-track adjective situated or taking place away from a racetrack. off-verse [translating German Abvers] the second half-line of a line of Old English verse. off year spec. in the US, a year in which there is a Congressional election but no Presidential election.
? Also used idiomatically with many verbs.