off

See also Off., of, and -off

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɒf/, X-SAMPA: /Qf/
• (US) IPA: /ɔf/, /ɑf/, X-SAMPA: /Of/, /Af/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒf

Adverb

off (comparative more off, superlative most off)

1. In a direction away from the speaker or object.

   He drove off in a cloud of smoke.

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

   Please switch off the light when you leave.

   die off

Usage notes

• Used in many phrasal verbs, off is an adverbial particle often mistakenly thought of as a preposition. (It can be used as a preposition, but such usage is rare and usually informal; see below.)

Synonyms

• away, out

Antonyms

• on, in

Derived terms

Terms derived from off (adverb)

back off bite off break off bring off call off clean off cut off, cutoff die off drop off fall off fuck off

get off go off goof off hold off keep off kick off, kickoff knock off lay off, layoff leave off let off light off live off

make off make off with nod off pay off, payoff piss off pull off put off ring off rip off, ripoff round off run off, runoff see off

set off show off, showoff sleep off shake off switch off take off tell off tick off turn off, turnoff walk it off wear off

Translations

in a direction away from the speaker or object

• Czech: pryč (cs)
• Dutch: weg (nl)
• Finnish: pois (fi) (away), alas (fi) (down), ylös (fi) (up), ulos (fi) (out)
• German: weg (de), davon (de)

• Macedonian: од- (mk) (od-)
• Polish: od- (pl)
• Russian: вон (ru) (von) , прочь (ru) (pročʹ) , долой (ru) (dolój) , от- (ru) (ot-)  (verb prefix), у- (ru) (u-)  (verb prefix)

into a state of non-operation or non-existence

• Dutch: uit (nl)
• Finnish: pois (fi)
• German: aus (de)

• Hungarian: ki (hu)
• Macedonian: ис- (mk) (is-), из- (mk) (iz-)
• Russian: ис- (ru) (is-) , из- (ru) (iz-) 

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: af, uit
• Norwegian: av

• Swedish: av, iväg, ifrån, från (1), av (2)
• Vietnamese: đi, ra (see individual verb for which translation to use)

Adjective

off (comparative more off, superlative most off)

1. inoperative, disabled

   All the lights are off.

2. rancid, rotten

   This milk is off!

3. (cricket) in, or towards the half of the field away from the batsman's legs; the right side for a right-handed batsman
4. Less than normal, in temperament or in result.

   sales are off this quarter

5. Circumstanced.
   • 2008, Kiron K. Skinner; Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Serhiy Kudelia, The Strategy of Campaigning:

     'Are you better off now than you were four years ago?' With that pointed question, Ronald Reagan defined the 1980 presidential election as a 92 referendum on Jimmy Carter's economic policies

6. Started on the way.
   • 1990, Peter Pinney, The glass cannon: a Bougainville diary, 1944-45:

     Let them glimpse a green man coming at them with intent, and they're off like a bride's nighty. Even after capture some of them will seize every attempt to suicide — they just can't live with the tremendous loss of face.

   off to see the wizard

   And they're off! Whatsmyname takes an early lead, with Remember The Mane behind by a nose.

7. Far; off to the side.
   • 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Harper Perennial (2000), page 151:

     He came in, took a look and squinched down into a chair in an off corner and didn’t open his mouth.

Antonyms

• (inoperative): on
• (rotten): fresh
• (cricket): on, leg

Derived terms

• off to the races

Translations

inoperative, disabled

• Finnish: pois (fi), poissa (fi), pois päältä (fi)
• Greek: κλειστό (el) (kleistó) n 
• Italian: spento (it)
• Macedonian: исклучен (mk) (ísklučen)
• Norwegian: av (no), deaktivert (no)

• Portuguese: desligado (pt)
• Russian: выключенный (ru) (výključennyj) , выкл. (ru) (vykl.)  (abbreviation)
• Spanish: apagado (es) m

rotten

• Finnish: pilalla (fi)
• Italian: putrido (it)
• Jèrriais: raccourchi
• Macedonian: расипан (mk) (rásipan)

• Portuguese: estragado (pt)
• Russian: испорченный (ru) (ispórčennyj) , несвежий (ru) (nesvéžij)  (unfresh), гнилой (ru) (gnilój)  (rotten), протухший (ru) (protúxšij)  (rancid), прогорклый (ru) (progórklyj)  (rancid)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: (2) fet malbé
• Dutch: uit (1), bedorven (2)
• French: (1): éteint m, éteinte f, (Canada) fermé m, (Canada) fermée f
• German: (2): schlecht, verdorben

• Norwegian: av
• Spanish: (1) cerrado m, cerrada f, apagado m, apagada f
• Vietnamese:
• * (1): (đã) tắt
• * (2): ôi; hôi, thối (stinky); chua (used to describe milk)

Preposition

off

1. Used to indicate movement away from a position on

   I took it off the table.; Come off the roof!

2. (colloquial) Out of the possession of.

   He didn't buy it off him. He stole it off him.

3. Away from or not on.

   He's off the computer, but he's still on the phone.; Keep off the grass.

4. Disconnected or subtracted from.

   We've been off the grid for three days now.; He took 20% off the list price.

5. Distant from.

   We're just off the main road.; The island is 23 miles off the cape.

6. No longer wanting or taking.

   He's been off his feed since Tuesday.; He's off his meds again.

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

   Tantalum bar 6 off 3/8" Dia × 12" — Atom, Great Britain Atomic Energy Authority, 1972

   samples submitted … 12 off Thermistors type 1K3A531 … — BSI test report for shock and vibration testing, 2000

   I'd like to re-order those printer cartridges, let's say 5-off.

Antonyms

• on

Derived terms

• off-campus
• off one's feed

Translations

from

• Finnish: -sta (fi) (elative case), -lta (fi) (ablative case)
• Greek: από (el) (apó) 
• Macedonian: од (mk) (od)

• Russian: от (ru) (ot) , с (ru) (s) 
• Spanish: de (es)

Verb

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

1. (transitive, slang) To kill.

   He got in the way so I had him offed.

2. (transitive, Singapore) To switch off.

   Can you off the light?

Derived terms

• off-licence, off-license, offie, offy

Translations

To kill

• Polish: sprzątnąć (pl) (slang)
• Portuguese: apagar (pt) (slang)
• Russian: убрать (ru) (ubrátʹ) , кокнуть (ru) (kóknutʹ)  (colloquial), пришить (ru) (prišítʹ)  (colloquial, lit.: to sew on), замочить (ru) (zamočítʹ)  (slang, lit.: to dunk)

To switch off

• Macedonian: исклучува (mk) (isklúčuva)

• Portuguese: apagar (pt), desligar (pt)

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: things · left · part · #160: off · took · nothing · God