so as to be no longer supported or attached: This button is about to come off.
2.
so as to be no longer covering or enclosing: to take a hat off; to take the wrapping off.
3.
away from a place: to run off; to look off toward the west.
4.
away from a path, course, etc.; aside: This road branches off to Grove City.
5.
so as to be away or on one's way: to start off early; to cast off.
6.
away from what is considered normal, regular, standard, or the like: to go off on a tangent.
7.
from a charge or price: He took 10 percent off for all cash purchases.
8.
at a distance in space or future time: to back off a few feet; Summer is only a week off.
9.
out of operation or effective existence: Turn the lights off.
10.
into operation or action: The alarm goes off at noon.
11.
so as to interrupt continuity or cause discontinuance: Negotiations have been broken off.
12.
in absence from work, service, a job, etc.: two days off at Christmas.
13.
completely; utterly: to kill off all the inhabitants.
14.
with prompt or ready performance: to dash a letter off.
15.
to fulfillment, or into execution or effect: The contest came off on the appointed day.
16.
into nonexistence or nothingness: My headache passed off soon.
17.
so as to be delineated, divided, or apportioned: Mark it off into equal parts.
18.
away from a state of consciousness: I must have dozed off.
19.
Nautical. away from the land, a ship, the wind, etc.
–preposition
20.
so as no longer to be supported by, attached to, on, resting on, or unified with: Take your feet off the table! Break a piece of bread off the loaf.
21.
deviating from: off balance; off course.
22.
below or less than the usual or expected level or standard: 20 percent off the marked price; I was off my golf game.
23.
away, disengaged, or resting from: to be off duty on Tuesdays.
24.
Informal. refraining or abstaining from; denying oneself the pleasure, company, practice, etc., of: He's off gambling.
25.
away from; apart or distant from: a village off the main road.
26.
leading into or away from: an alley off 12th Street.
27.
not fixed on or directed toward, as the gaze, eyes, etc.: Their eyes weren't off the king for a moment.
28.
Informal. from (a specified source): I bought it off a street vendor.
29.
from or of, indicating material or component parts: to lunch off cheese and fruit.
30.
from or by such means or use of: living off an inheritance; living off his parents.
31.
Nautical. at some distance to seaward of: off Cape Hatteras.
–adjective
32.
in error; wrong: You are off on that point.
33.
slightly abnormal or not quite sane: He is a little off, but he's really harmless.
34.
not up to standard; not so good or satisfactory as usual; inferior or subnormal: a good play full of off moments.
35.
no longer in effect, in operation, or in process: The agreement is off.
36.
stopped from flowing, as by the closing of a valve: The electricity is off.
37.
in a specified state, circumstance, etc.: to be badly off for money.
38.
(of time) free from work or duty; nonworking: a pastime for one's off hours.
39.
not working at one's usual occupation: We're off Wednesdays during the summer.
40.
of less than the ordinary activity, liveliness, or lively interest; slack: an off season in the tourist trade.
41.
unlikely; remote; doubtful: on the off chance that we'd find her at home.
42.
more distant; farther: the off side of a wall.
43.
(of a vehicle, single animal, or pair of animals hitched side by side) of, being, or pertaining to the right as seen from the rider's or driver's viewpoint (opposed to near): the off horse; the off side.
44.
starting on one's way; leaving: I'm off to Europe on Monday. They're off and running in the third race at Aqueduct.
45.
lower in price or value; down: Stock prices were off this morning.
46.
Nautical. noting one of two like things that is the farther from the shore; seaward: the off side of the ship.
47.
Cricket. noting or pertaining to that side of the wicket or of the field opposite that on which the batsman stands.
–noun
48.
the state or fact of being off.
49.
Cricket. the off side.
–verb (used without object)
50.
to go off or away; leave (used imperatively): Off, and don't come back!
—Usage note The phrasal preposition off of is old in English, going back to the 16th century. Although usage guides reject it as redundant, recommending off without of, the phrase is widespread in speech, including that of the educated: Let's watch as the presidential candidates come off of the rostrum and down into the audience. Off of is rare in edited writing except to give the flavor of speech.
At a certain distance in space or time: a mile off; a week off.
From a given course or route; aside: swerved off into a ditch.
Into a state of unconsciousness: I must have dozed off.
So as to be no longer on, attached, or connected: shaved off his mustache.
So as to be divided: marked off the playing field by yards.
So as to be no longer on, attached, or connected: shaved off his mustache.
So as to be divided: marked off the playing field by yards.
So as to be no longer continuing, operating, or functioning: switched off the radio.
So as to be completely removed, finished, or eliminated: kill off the mice.
So as to be smaller, fewer, or less: Sales dropped off.
So as to be away from work or duty: They took a day off.
Offstage.
adj.
Distant or removed; farther: the off side of the barn.
Remote; slim: stopped by on the off chance that they're home.
Not up to standard; below a normal or satisfactory level: Your pitching is off today.
Not accurate; incorrect: Your statistical results are off.
Somewhat crazy; eccentric: I think that person is a little off.
Absent or away from work or duty: She's off every Tuesday.
Spent away from work or duty: My off day is Saturday.
Being on the right side of an animal or vehicle.
Being the animal or vehicle on the right.
Not on, attached, or connected: with my shoes off.
Not operating or operational: The oven is off.
No longer taking place; canceled: The wedding is off.
Slack: Production was off this year.
Not up to standard; below a normal or satisfactory level: Your pitching is off today.
Not accurate; incorrect: Your statistical results are off.
Somewhat crazy; eccentric: I think that person is a little off.
Absent or away from work or duty: She's off every Tuesday.
Spent away from work or duty: My off day is Saturday.
Being on the right side of an animal or vehicle.
Being the animal or vehicle on the right.
Started on the way; going: I'm off to see the president.
Absent or away from work or duty: She's off every Tuesday.
Spent away from work or duty: My off day is Saturday.
Being on the right side of an animal or vehicle.
Being the animal or vehicle on the right.
Being on the right side of an animal or vehicle.
Being the animal or vehicle on the right.
Nautical Farthest from the shore; seaward.
Sports Toward or designating the side of the field facing the batsman in cricket.
Off-color.
prep.
So as to be removed or distant from: The bird hopped off the branch.
Away or relieved from: off duty.
By consuming: living off locusts and honey.
With the means provided by: living off my pension.
Informal From: "What else do you want off me?"(Jimmy Breslin).
Extending or branching out from: an artery off the heart.
Not up to the usual standard of: off his game.
So as to abstain from: went off narcotics.
Nautical To seaward of: a mile off Sandy Hook.
v.
offed, off·ing, offs
v.
intr.
To go away; leave: Off or I'll call the police.
v.
tr.Slang
To murder.
[Variant of Middle English of, from Old English; see apo- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: The compound preposition off of is generally regarded as informal and is best avoided in formal speech and writing: He stepped off (not off of) the platform.Off is informal as well when used to indicate a source: formal style requires I borrowed it from (not off) my brother.
by c.1200 as an emphatic form of O.E. of (see of), employed in the adverbial use of that word. The prepositional meaning "away from" and the adj. sense of "farther" were not firmly fixed in this variant until 17c., but once they were they left the original of with the transf. and weakened senses of the word. Meaning "not working" is from 1861; verb sense of "to kill" first attested 1930. Off the cuff (1938) is from the notion of speaking from notes written in haste on one's shirt cuffs. Off the rack (adj.) is from 1963; off the record is from 1933; off the wall "crazy" is 1968, probably from the notion of a lunatic "bouncing off the walls" or else in ref. to carom shots in squash, handball, etc.
not in operation or operational; "the oven is off"; "the lights are off" [ant: on]
2.
below a satisfactory level; "an off year for tennis"; "his performance was off"
3.
(of events) no longer planned or scheduled; "the wedding is definitely off" [ant: on]
4.
in an unpalatable state; "sour milk"
5.
not performing or scheduled for duties; "He's off every Tuesday"
adverb
1.
from a particular thing or place or position ('forth' is obsolete); "ran away from the lion"; "wanted to get away from there"; "sent the children away to boarding school"; "the teacher waved the children away from the dead animal"; "went off to school"; "they drove off"; "go forth and preach" [syn: away]
2.
at a distance in space or time; "the boat was 5 miles off (or away)"; "the party is still 2 weeks off (or away)"; "away back in the 18th century"
3.
no longer on or in contact or attached; "clean off the dirt"; "he shaved off his mustache"
verb
1.
kill intentionally and with premeditation; "The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered" [syn: murder]
Cut Off, LA (CDP, FIPS 18930) Location: 29.52941 N, 90.33464 W Population (1990): 5325 (1857 housing units) Area: 33.2 sq km (land), 0.4 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 70345
A*pos"ta*sy\, n.; pl. Apostasies. [OE. apostasie, F. apostasie, L. apostasia, fr. Gr. ? a standing off from, a defection, fr. ? to stand off, revolt; ? from + ? to stand. See Off and Stand.] An abandonment of what one has voluntarily professed; a total desertion of departure from one's faith, principles, or party; esp., the renunciation of a religious faith; as, Julian's apostasy from Christianity.
Edge\, v. i. 1. To move sideways; to move gradually; as, edge along this way. 2. To sail close to the wind. I must edge up on a point of wind. --Dryden. To edge away or off (Naut.), to increase the distance gradually from the shore, vessel, or other object. To edge down (Naut.), to approach by slow degrees, as when a sailing vessel approaches an object in an oblique direction from the windward. To edge in, to get in edgewise; to get in by degrees. To edge in with, as with a coast or vessel (Naut.), to advance gradually, but not directly, toward it.
From\, prep. [AS. fram, from; akin to OS. fram out, OHG. & Icel. fram forward, Sw. fram, Dan. frem, Goth. fram from, prob. akin to E. forth. ?202. Cf. Fro, Foremost.] Out of the neighborhood of; lessening or losing proximity to; leaving behind; by reason of; out of; by aid of; -- used whenever departure, setting out, commencement of action, being, state, occurrence, etc., or procedure, emanation, absence, separation, etc., are to be expressed. It is construed with, and indicates, the point of space or time at which the action, state, etc., are regarded as setting out or beginning; also, less frequently, the source, the cause, the occasion, out of which anything proceeds; -- the aritithesis and correlative of to; as, it, is one hundred miles from Boston to Springfield; he took his sword from his side; light proceeds from the sun; separate the coarse wool from the fine; men have all sprung from Adam, and often go from good to bad, and from bad to worse; the merit of an action depends on the principle from which it proceeds; men judge of facts from personal knowledge, or from testimony. Experience from the time past to the time present. --Bacon. The song began from Jove. --Drpden. From high M[ae]onia's rocky shores I came. --Addison. If the wind blow any way from shore. --Shak. Note: From sometimes denotes away from, remote from, inconsistent with. "Anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing." --Shak. From, when joined with another preposition or an adverb, gives an opportunity for abbreviating the sentence. "There followed him great multitudes of people . . . from [the land] beyond Jordan." --Math. iv. 25. In certain constructions, as from forth, from out, etc., the ordinary and more obvious arrangment is inverted, the sense being more distinctly forth from, out from -- from being virtually the governing preposition, and the word the adverb. See From off, under Off, adv., and From afar, under Afar, adv. Sudden partings such as press The life from out young hearts. --Byron.
Near\, a. [Compar. Nearer; superl. Nearest.] [See Near, adv.]1. Not far distant in time, place, or degree; not remote; close at hand; adjacent; neighboring; nigh. "As one near death." --Shak. He served great Hector, and was ever near, Not with his trumpet only, but his spear. --Dryden. 2. Closely connected or related. She is thy father's near kinswoman. --Lev. xviii. 12. 3. Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; touching, or affecting intimately; intimate; dear; as, a near friend. 4. Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling; as, a version near to the original. 5. So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow; as, a near escape. 6. Next to the driver, when he is on foot; in the Unted States, on the left of an animal or a team; as, the near ox; the near leg. See Off side, under Off, a. 7. Immediate; direct; close; short. "The nearest way." --Milton. 8. Close-fisted; parsimonious. [Obs. or Low, Eng.] Note: Near may properly be followed by to before the thing approached'; but more frequently to is omitted, and the adjective or the adverb is regarded as a preposition. The same is also true of the word nigh. Syn: Nigh; close; adjacent; proximate; contiguous; present; ready; intimate; dear.
Fine\ (f[imac]n), v. i. To become fine (in any one of various senses); as, the ale will fine; the weather fined. To fineaway, down, off, gradually to become fine; to diminish; to dwindle. I watched her [the ship] . . . gradually fining down in the westward until I lost of her hull. --W. C. Russel.
Of\, prep. [AS. of of, from, off; akin to D. & OS. af, G. ab off, OHG. aba from, away, Icel., Dan., Sw., & Goth. af, L. ab, Gr. ?, Skr. apa. Cf.Off, A- (2), Ab-, After, Epi-.] In a general sense, from, or out from; proceeding from; belonging to; relating to; concerning; -- used in a variety of applications; as: 1. Denoting that from which anything proceeds; indicating origin, source, descent, and the like; as, he is of a race of kings; he is of noble blood. That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. --Luke i. 35. I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. --1 Cor. xi. 23. 2. Denoting possession or ownership, or the relation of subject to attribute; as, the apartment of the consul: the power of the king; a man of courage; the gate of heaven. "Poor of spirit." --Macaulay. 3. Denoting the material of which anything is composed, or that which it contains; as, a throne of gold; a sword of steel; a wreath of mist; a cup of water. 4. Denoting part of an aggregate or whole; belonging to a number or quantity mentioned; out of; from amongst; as, of this little he had some to spare; some of the mines were unproductive; most of the company. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. --Lam. iii. 22. It is a duty to communicate of those blessings we have received. --Franklin. 5. Denoting that by which a person or thing is actuated or impelled; also, the source of a purpose or action; as, they went of their own will; no body can move of itself; he did it of necessity. For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. --Josh. xi. 20. 6. Denoting reference to a thing; about; concerning; relating to; as, to boast of one's achievements. Knew you of this fair work? --Shak. 7. Denoting nearness or distance, either in space or time; from; as, within a league of the town; within an hour of the appointed time. 8. Denoting identity or equivalence; -- used with a name or appellation, and equivalent to the relation of apposition; as, the continent of America; the city of Rome; the Island of Cuba. 9. Denoting the agent, or person by whom, or thing by which, anything is, or is done; by. And told to her of [by] some. --Chaucer. He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. --Luke iv. 15. [Jesus] being forty days tempted of the devil. --Luke iv. 1, 2. Note: The use of the word in this sense, as applied to persons, is nearly obsolete. 10. Denoting relation to place or time; belonging to, or connected with; as, men of Athens; the people of the Middle Ages; in the days of Herod. 11. Denoting passage from one state to another; from. [Obs.] "O miserable of happy." --Milton. 12. During; in the course of. Not be seen to wink of all the day. --Shak. My custom always of the afternoon. --Shak. Note: Of may be used in a subjective or an objective sense. "The love of God" may mean, our love for God, or God's love for us. Note: From is the primary sense of this preposition; a sense retained in off, the same word differently written for distinction. But this radical sense disappears in most of its application; as, a man of genius; a man of rare endowments; a fossil of a red color, or of an hexagonal figure; he lost all hope of relief; an affair of the cabinet; he is a man of decayed fortune; what is the price of corn? In these and similar phrases, of denotes property or possession, or a relation of some sort involving connection. These applications, however all proceeded from the same primary sense. That which proceeds from, or is produced by, a person or thing, either has had, or still has, a close connection with the same; and hence the word was applied to cases of mere connection, not involving at all the idea of separation. Of consequence, of importance, value, or influence. Of late, recently; in time not long past. Of old, formerly; in time long past. Of one's self, by one's self; without help or prompting; spontaneously. Why, knows not Montague, that of itself England is safe, if true within itself? --Shak.
Off\, adv. [OE. of, orig. the same word as R. of, prep., AS. of, adv. & prep. [root]194. See Of.] In a general sense, denoting from or away from; as: 1. Denoting distance or separation; as, the house is a mile off. 2. Denoting the action of removing or separating; separation; as, to take off the hat or cloak; to cut off, to pare off, to clip off, to peel off, to tear off, to march off, to fly off, and the like. 3. Denoting a leaving, abandonment, departure, abatement, interruption, or remission; as, the fever goes off; the pain goes off; the game is off; all bets are off. 4. Denoting a different direction; not on or towards: away; as, to look off. 5. Denoting opposition or negation. [Obs.] The questions no way touch upon puritanism, either off or on. --Bp. Sanderson. From off, off from; off. "A live coal . . . taken with the tongs from off the altar." --Is. vi. 6. Off and on. (a) Not constantly; not regularly; now and then; occasionally. (b) (Naut.) On different tacks, now toward, and now away from, the land. To be off. (a) To depart; to escape; as, he was off without a moment's warning. (b) To be abandoned, as an agreement or purpose; as, the bet was declared to be off. [Colloq.] To come off, To cut off, To fall off, To go off, etc. See under Come, Cut, Fall, Go, etc. To get off. (a) To utter; to discharge; as, to get off a joke. (b) To go away; to escape; as, to get off easily from a trial. [Colloq.] To take off, to mimic or personate. To tell off (Mil.), to divide and practice a regiment or company in the several formations, preparatory to marching to the general parade for field exercises. --Farrow. To be well off, to be in good condition. To be ill off, To be badly off, to be in poor condition.
Off\, prep. Not on; away from; as, to be off one's legs or off the bed; two miles off the shore. --Addison. Off hand. See Offhand. Off side (Football), out of play; -- said when a player has got in front of the ball in a scrimmage, or when the ball has been last touched by one of his own side behind him. To be off color, to be of a wrong color. To be off one's food, to have no appetite. (Colloq.)
Off\, a. 1. On the farther side; most distant; on the side of an animal or a team farthest from the driver when he is on foot; in the United States, the right side; as, the off horse or ox in a team, in distinction from the nigh or near horse or ox; the off leg. 2. Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from his post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent; as, he took an off day for fishing: an off year in politics. "In the off season." --Thackeray. Off side. (a) The right hand side in driving; the farther side. See Gee. (b) (Cricket) See Off, n.
Off\, a. 1. On the farther side; most distant; on the side of an animal or a team farthest from the driver when he is on foot; in the United States, the right side; as, the off horse or ox in a team, in distinction from the nigh or near horse or ox; the off leg. 2. Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from his post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent; as, he took an off day for fishing: an off year in politics. "In the off season." --Thackeray. Off side. (a) The right hand side in driving; the farther side. See Gee. (b) (Cricket) See Off, n.
Off"ing\, n. [From Off.] That part of the sea at a good distance from the shore, or where there is deep water and no need of a pilot; also, distance from the shore; as, the ship had ten miles offing; we saw a ship in the offing.
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