World Book 1997 4.0

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<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>OFF</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> <A HREF="a.dic">A</A> <A HREF="b.dic">B</A> <A HREF="c.dic">C</A> <A HREF="d.dic">D</A> <A HREF="e.dic">E</A> <A HREF="f.dic">F</A> <A HREF="g.dic">G</A> <A HREF="h.dic">H</A> <A HREF="i.dic">I</A> <A HREF="j.dic">J</A> <A HREF="k.dic">K</A> <A HREF="l.dic">L</A> <A HREF="m.dic">M</A> <A HREF="n.dic">N</A> <A HREF="o.dic">O</A> <A HREF="p.dic">P</A> <A HREF="q.dic">Q</A> <A HREF="r.dic">R</A> <A HREF="s.dic">S</A> <A HREF="t.dic">T</A> <A HREF="u.dic">U</A> <A HREF="v.dic">V</A> <A HREF="w.dic">W</A> <A HREF="x.dic">X</A> <A HREF="y.dic">Y</A> <A HREF="z.dic">Z</A> <A NAME="off"> off, adverb, preposition, adjective, interjection, noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD>adv. 1. from the usual position or condition. Ex. He took off his hat. <DD> 2. away. Ex. to go off on a journey. <DD> 3. distant in time or space. Ex. Christmas is only five weeks off. He stopped twenty yards off. <DD> 4. so as to stop or lessen. Ex. Turn the water off. The game was called off. <DD> 5. without work. Ex. an afternoon off. <DD> 6. in full; wholly; entirely. Ex. She cleared off her desk. They paid off the mortgage. <DD> 7. on one's way. Ex. The train started and we wereoff on our trip. Her friends saw her off at the station. <DD>prep. 1a. from; away from; far from. Ex. He pushed me off my seat. We are miles off the main road. He will be off duty at four o'clock. <DD> b. subtracted from. Ex. 25 per cent off the marked price. <DD> 2. not in the usual or correct position on; not in the usual or correct condition of; not on. Ex. A button is off your coat. <DD> 3. below the usual or normal standard of performance. Ex. to be off one's game. <DD> 4. seaward from or straight out from. Ex. The ship anchored off Maine. The boat anchored off the fort. <DD> 5. leading out of. Ex. an alley off 12th Street. <DD> 6. (Informal.) from the possession of. Ex. I bought it off a complete stranger. <DD>adj. 1. not connected; not continued; stopped. Ex. The electricity is off. <DD> 2. no longer contemplated; canceled. Ex. The game is off. <DD> 3. not at work. Ex. He pursues his hobby during off hours. It was with a team of those very horses [used for plowing, etc.], on an off day, that Miss Sharp was brought to the Hall (Thackeray). <DD> 4. in a specified condition in regard to money, property, or the like. Ex. How well off are the neighbors? <DD> 5. not very good; not up to average. Ex. Bad weather made last summer an off season for fruit. We all have our off days. All drivers have their off moments, which may be due to fatigue, frustration, worry, boredom or alcohol (New Scientist). <DD> 6. possible but not likely. Ex. There is an off chance of rain. I came on the off chance that I would find you. <DD> 7. in error; wrong. Ex. Your figures are way off. <DD> 8. (Informal.) not normal or stable; abnormal. Ex. Their personal lives ... are rather off and strange (James Jones). <DD> 9. on the right-hand side. Ex. The near horse and the off horse make a team. <DD> 10. on one's way. <DD> 11. more distant; farther. Ex. the off side of a wall. <DD> 12. seaward. Ex. Our men ... were at work ... on the off side (Daniel Defoe). <DD> 13. (Cricket.) in, at, of, or directed toward that side of the wicket or ground which the batsman faces as he stands at bat. <DD>interj. go away! stay away! <DD>noun 1. the fact or state of being off. Ex. The thermostat is set at "off." <DD> 2. the side in cricket opposite to the batsman. Ex. the young bowler is getting wild, and bowls a ball almost wide to the off (Thomas Hughes). <DD>v.t. (U.S. Slang.) to kill. expr. be off. See under be. expr. from the off, (British.) from the beginning; from the start. Ex. Heredity had thrust our roles on us from the off (Catherine Drinkwater). expr. off and on, at some times and not at others; now and then. Ex. He has lived in Europe off and on for ten years. It has been turning up off and on since at least 1757 in various collections of songs (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). expr. off of, (Informal.) from. Ex. "I ain't going to take no present off of you" (Eudora Welty). expr. off with, <DD> a. take off. Ex. Off with those wet clothes. <DD> b. away with!. Ex. Off with the old and on with the new! </DL> <A NAME="off"> off.,<DL COMPACT><DD> an abbreviation for the following: <DD> 1. offered. <DD> 2. office. <DD> 3. officer. <DD> 4. official. <DD> 5. officinal. </DL> <A NAME="offagainonagain"> off-again on-again, or off-again-on-again, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> wavering; inconclusive; unresolved. Also, on-again off-again. </DL> <A NAME="offal"> offal, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. the waste parts of an animal, fish, or bird, that has been killed for food. <DD> 2. garbage; refuse; rubbish. <DD> 3. the waste produced by any of various industrial processes, such as chips in milling wood or scraps of leather in trimming hides. <DD> 4. dead or decaying flesh; carrion. </DL> <A NAME="offandon"> off-and-on, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> occasional; interrupted; irregular; uncertain. Also, on-and-off. </DL> <A NAME="offbalance"> off-balance, adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. in an unsteady position. Ex. Patterson, a little off-balance ... suddenly went to the floor in the second round (Newsweek). <DD> 2. by surprise. Ex. [He] was plainly caught off-balance at the first thrusts from his host on an occasion which ... called for informality, friendliness and courtesy (Wall Street Journal). </DL> <A NAME="offbeat"> offbeat, noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun a musical beat normally with little or no accent. Ex. Gradually, the beat began to ricochet from the audience as more and more fans began to clap hands on the offbeats (Time). <DD>adj. 1. out of the ordinary; unusual; not orthodox; unconventional. Ex. an offbeat display, offbeat drama. <DD> 2. (Music.) of or characterized by offbeats. Ex. an offbeat rhythm, offbeat melody. </DL> <A NAME="offboard"> off-board, adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> through a broker's office instead of a regular exchange; over-the-counter. Ex. off-board trading (adj.). Exchange members were prohibited from going off-board (London Times) (adv.). </DL> <A NAME="offbreak"> off break,<DL COMPACT><DD> (Cricket.) a ball that travels away from a line between the bowler and batsman but breaks back toward the batsman upon hitting the ground. </DL> <A NAME="offbroadway"> off-Broadway, noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun the segment of the New York City professional theater outside of Broadway (the traditional theatrical center), noted for its introduction of experimental plays, often by unknown playwrights. Ex. Theatre began to happen. Broadway was ... unwilling and unable to put on daring new works or revive the classics. Off-Broadway, basing itself in and around the [Greenwich] Village area, began to rock the American theatre with Albee's plays and the latest works from Europe (Saturday Night). <DD>adj. 1. of or having to do with off-Broadway; being outside the main theater district in New York City. Ex. an off-Broadway play or theater. <DD> 2. close to, but not on, Broadway, in New York City. Ex. an off-Broadway restaurant. </DL> <A NAME="offcast"> offcast, adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD>adj. cast off; rejected. <DD>noun a thing that is cast off; person who is rejected. </DL> <A NAME="offcenter"> off-center, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. not in the center; away from the center. Ex. Some engines are off-center so that the drive shaft by-passes the driver and permits lower seating (Newsweek). <DD> 2. (Figurative.) unconventional; strange; eccentric. Ex. ... an engaging parasite whose code is in part peculiarly off-center and in part gentlemanly to the point of being quixotic (Atlantic). </DL> <A NAME="offcolor"> off-color, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. not of the right or required color or shade; defective in color. Ex. an off-color diamond. <DD> 2. somewhat improper; objectionable. Ex. an off-color joke. (SYN) risque. </DL> <A NAME="offcolored"> off-colored, adjective. =off-color.</DL> <A NAME="offcourse"> off-course, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. off-track. Ex. If off-course betting does come, it will do racing no good (New Yorker). <DD> 2. not on the right course; deviating. Ex. a slightly off-course landing of a rocket. </DL> <A NAME="offcut"> offcut, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. one of the pieces cut off in shaping a block of stone, a piece of lumber, or the like. Ex. Timber has been used in the length in which it is imported, instead of having wasteful offcuts (Manchester Guardian Weekly). <DD> 2. (Printing.) <DD> a. a piece cut off from a sheet to reduce it to the proper size. <DD> b. a part cut off the main sheet and folded separately, as in a sheet of duodecimo. </DL> <A NAME="offdrive"> off-drive, noun, verb, -drove, -driven, -driving.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Cricket.) <DD>noun a drive to the left side of the field by a right-handed batsman or the right side by a left-handed batsman. Ex. A slightly mistimed off-drive led to a fine catch by Knight, running around in front of the screen (London Times). <DD>v.i., v.t. to hit an off-drive (of a bowler's delivery). Ex. Webster gradually blossomed out into some handsome off-driving (U. A. Titley). </DL> <A NAME="offduty"> off-duty, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. not engaged or occupied with one's normal work. Ex. an off-duty policeman. <DD> 2. of or for a person who is not on duty. Ex. off-duty entertainment, off-duty offense. </DL> <A NAME="offence"> offence, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British and Canadian.) offense. </DL> <A HREF="offend.dic">NEXT</A>