OFF

off

(adjective) not performing or scheduled for duties; “He’s off every Tuesday”

off

(adjective) not in operation or operational; “the oven is off”; “the lights are off”

off, cancelled

(adjective) (of events) no longer planned or scheduled; “the wedding is definitely off”

off

(adjective) below a satisfactory level; “an off year for tennis”; “his performance was off”

off, sour, turned

(adjective) in an unpalatable state; “sour milk”

off

(adverb) no longer on or in contact or attached; “clean off the dirt”; “he shaved off his mustache”

away, off, forth

(adverb) from a particular thing or place or position (‘forth’ is obsolete); “ran away from the lion”; “wanted to get away from there”; “sent the children away to boarding school”; “the teacher waved the children away from the dead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”

off, away

(adverb) 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”

murder, slay, hit, dispatch, bump off, off, polish off, remove

(verb) kill intentionally and with premeditation; “The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adverb

off (not comparable)

In a direction away from the speaker or object.

Into a state of non-operation; into a state of non-existence.

So as to remove or separate, or be removed or separated.

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.

Usage notes

• off is used as an adverbial particle in a number of phrasal verbs (shake off, show off, switch off, take off, and so forth). This is not to be confused with prepositional use (e.g. jump off the table, keep off the grass; see below).

Synonyms

• away

• out

Antonyms

• on

• in

Adjective

off (comparative more off, superlative most off)

Inoperative, disabled.

Antonym: on

Cancelled; not happening.

Not fitted; not being worn.

Rancid, rotten, gone bad.

Antonym: fresh

Less than normal, in temperament or in result.

Inappropriate; untoward.

(in phrases such as 'well off', 'better off', 'poorly off') Circumstanced.

Started on the way.

Far; off to the side.

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.

(in phrases such as 'off day') Designating a time when one is not performing to the best of one's abilities.

(of a dish on a menu) Presently unavailable.

(British, in relation to a vehicle) On the side furthest from the kerb (the right-hand side if one drives on the left).

Antonym: near

(cricket) In, or towards the half of the field away from the batsman's legs; the right side for a right-handed batsman.

Antonyms: on, leg

Preposition

off

Not positioned upon; away from a position upon.

Detached, separated, excluded or disconnected from; away from a position of attachment or connection to.

Used to indicate the location or direction of one thing relative to another, implying adjacency or accessibility via.

Used to express location at sea relative to land or mainland.

Removed or subtracted from.

No longer wanting or taking.

(colloquial, more properly 'from') Out of the possession of.

Placed after a number (of products or parts, as if a unit), in commerce or engineering.

Antonyms

• on

Verb

off (third-person singular simple present offs, present participle offing, simple past and past participle offed)

(transitive, slang) To kill.

(transitive, Singapore, Philippines) To switch off.

Noun

off (uncountable)

(usually in phrases such as 'from the off', 'at the off', etc.) Beginning; starting point.

Anagrams

• FFO

Source: Wiktionary

Off, adv. Etym: [OE. of, orig. the same word as R. of, prep., AS. of, adv. & prep. *194. See Of.]

Definition: 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, interj.

Definition: Away; begone; -- a command to depart.

Off, prep.

Definition: 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 Ant: nigh or Ant: 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, n. (Cricket)

Definition: The side of the field that is on the right of the wicket keeper.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

OFF

Etymology

Adverb

Usage notes

Synonyms

Antonyms

Adjective

Preposition

Antonyms

Verb

Noun

Anagrams

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