noun
definition
(usually in phrases such as 'from the off', 'at the off', etc.) Beginning; starting point.
example
He has been very obviously an untrustworthy narrator right from the off.
verb
definition
To kill.
example
He got in the way so I had him offed.
definition
To switch off.
example
Can you off the light?
adjective
definition
Inoperative, disabled.
example
All the lights are off.
definition
Cancelled; not happening.
example
The party's off because the hostess is sick.
definition
Not fitted; not being worn.
example
The drink spilled out of the bottle because the top was off.
definition
Rancid, rotten, gone bad.
example
This milk is off!
definition
Less than normal, in temperament or in result.
example
sales are off this quarter
definition
Inappropriate; untoward.
example
I felt that his comments were a bit off.
definition
(in phrases such as 'well off', 'better off', 'poorly off') Circumstanced.
definition
Started on the way.
example
And they're off! Whatsmyname takes an early lead, with Remember The Mane behind by a nose.
definition
Far; off to the side.
example
He took me down the corridor and into an off room.
definition
Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from a post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent.
example
He took an off day for fishing. an off year in politics; the off season
definition
(in phrases such as 'off day') Designating a time when one is not performing to the best of one's abilities.
definition
(of a dish on a menu) Presently unavailable.
example
— I'll have the chicken please.
definition
(in relation to a vehicle) On the side furthest from the kerb (the right-hand side if one drives on the left).
example
The off front wheel came loose.
definition
In, or towards the half of the field away from the batsman's legs; the right side for a right-handed batsman.
adverb
definition
In a direction away from the speaker or object.
example
He drove off in a cloud of smoke.
definition
Into a state of non-operation or non-existence.
example
Please switch off the light when you leave.
definition
So as to remove or separate, or be removed or separated.
example
He bit off the end of the carrot.
definition
Used in various other ways specific to individual idiomatic phrases, e.g. bring off, show off, put off, tell off, etc. See the entry for the individual phrase.
preposition
definition
Not positioned upon; away from a position upon.
example
He's off the roof now.
definition
Detached, separated, excluded or disconnected from; away from a position of attachment or connection to.
example
He was thrown off the team for cheating.
definition
Used to indicate the location or direction of one thing relative to another, implying adjacency or accessibility via.
example
His office is off this corridor on the right.
definition
Used to express location at sea relative to land or mainland.
example
The island is 23 miles off the cape.
definition
Removed or subtracted from.
example
There's 20% off the list price.
definition
No longer wanting or taking.
example
He's been off his feed since Tuesday.
definition
(more properly 'from') Out of the possession of.
example
He didn't buy it off him. He stole it off him.
definition
Placed after a number (of products or parts, as if a unit), in commerce or engineering.
example
I'd like to re-order those printer cartridges, let's say 5-off.
Examples of off in a Sentence
Thank you for getting me off the hook.
I'll send it off to find out.
I think I scared about ten years off my life too.
She turned off the light and pulled the covers up.
The dark interior set off caution bells again.
The horses moved off the bank.
Where are you off to?
She picked a toy off the floor.
Abruptly, he dropped her hand and turned away, marching off to his car.
Destiny wandered off to her room to play.
He tried to brush it off, but it remained there.
When Alex lowered her to the ground, she jerked her hand free and marched off to the house.
Her head felt like it could float off her body.
Felipa left Carmen at the foot of the stairs, striding off without another word.
Some one balances the toboggan on the very crest of the hill, while we get on, and when we are ready, off we dash down the side of the hill in a headlong rush, and, leaping a projection, plunge into a snow-drift and go swimming far across the pond at a tremendous rate!...
Where has she run off to?
It was almost as if he were shutting Felipa off before she could reveal something.
If anything could take her mind off the worry of surrogacy, he could.
I'm off duty, you know.
Now a billion or more can achieve that dream, and I foresee a time not far off when everyone on the planet can.
I cut him off.
It really ticked Alex off.
Once we get the problem off our "to-do list" and stick it onto the computer's, we largely will be done.
We were busy cutting out paper dolls; but we soon wearied of this amusement, and after cutting up our shoestrings and clipping all the leaves off the honeysuckle that were within reach, I turned my attention to Martha's corkscrews.
He nodded, his gaze drifting off in contemplation.
She was putting plates on the table when the school bus dropped Jonathan off.
Her first thought was that it was a puppy someone had dropped off.
I turned off the light.
The assembled nobles all took off their uniforms and settled down again in their homes and clubs, and not without some groans gave orders to their stewards about the enrollment, feeling amazed themselves at what they had done.
The neighbors couldn't see into any of their windows, and they were far enough off the main road that the only traffic would be people coming to see them.
He stabbed a fork into the roast and cut a small slice off.
I did and I thought he was going to bite my head off.
Her gaze drifted off in contemplation, finally returning to Carmen.
Actually, I just got off my shift and thought I'd check in on her.
It would be dark by the time they got the car off the edge of the cliff.
Children are off limits.
Did you get her car off the cliff, dear?
Then you wouldn't have run off that cliff.
For the most part, though, her conversation was interesting and helped keep Lisa's mind off her own problems.
He got them to back off, at least for now.
I'd probably blow my foot off.
I could drop off the radar for a time.
I glanced out in time to see it moving with its headlights off.
You said they were off before he got here.
The FBI can fill you in better when they get here but this guy's been off the grid since he was released from prison last summer.
Either he got smart fast or someone tipped him off.
Or that taste like meat, taking pastureland off the grid.
The hare arched his back and bounded off yet more swiftly.
Carmen let go of the blanket she had been clutching to her chest and turned to shut her light off.
She'd sworn off men-- especially this one-- a year ago!