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adverb
1.
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.
EXPANDso 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.
COLLAPSENautical. 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.
EXPANDInformal. 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.
COLLAPSENautical. at some distance to seaward of: off Cape Hatteras.
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On and off
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
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.
EXPANDstopped 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.
COLLAPSECricket. 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!
verb (used with object)
Verb phrase51.
Slang. to kill; slay.
52.
Idiomsget off on. get (def. 57).
53.
get it off. get (def. 54).
54.
off and on,
a.
Also, on and off. with intervals between; intermittently: to work off and on.
b.
Nautical. on alternate tacks.
55.
off of, Informal. off: Take your feet off of the table!
56.
off with,
a.
take away; remove: Off with those muddy boots before you step into this kitchen!
b.
cut off: Off with his head!
Origin:
orig. stressed variant of of1
orig. stressed variant of of1
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.
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To on and off
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
off
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.
EXPANDand 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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
off (one's) definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Idioms & Phrases
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