throw off

See also: throw-off and throwoff

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

throw off (third-person singular simple present throws off, present participle throwing off, simple past threw off, past participle thrown off)

1. (idiomatic) To confuse; especially, to lose a pursuer.

   I never saw her without glasses before, so it threw me off when she got contact lenses.

   • 1940, Lord Dunsany, The Story of Mona Sheehy, page 170:

     "Then," said the tinker, "maybe the thing for us to do would be to go by queer ways, by bohereens and the like of that, and for us to get of the straight road to Rathmoon, the way that no-one will find us except the tinkers, for we can't throw off them."

   • '1999, Jon Sharpe, Trailsman 207: Chimney Rock Burial:

     "Well," he said as they reached the livery, "we could go north or throw them off our trail. That would add a day to our trip, though."

2. (idiomatic) To introduce errors or inaccuracies; to skew.

   The dirt in the apparatus threw off the results.

   • 2011, Tom Verducci, Inside Baseball: The Best of Tom Verducci:

     “Varying the speeds of your pitches to throw off the timing of the hitter is much more important than it used to be,” Yankees righthander David Cone says.

   • 2020, Max Domi, No Days Off: My Life with Type 1 Diabetes and Journey to the NHL, page 54:

     Too much activity one day can throw off my blood sugar as much as if I am not active the next.

3. (transitive) Of a horse, to eject its rider.
4. To fling away.
   • 1882 March 11, Richard A. Proctor, “The Vistas of the Past: The Moon and the Earth”, in The Living Age, volume 152, page 813:

     Long before the tidal wave had again grwon sufficiently high to throw off spray, the spray last thrown off would have passed beyond its reach.

   • 1910, The Federal Reporter - Volume 180, page 423:

     It was conceded on the final hearing and is shown by the proof, and I find as a fact that, while this rapid revolution of the cans fresh from the solder bath would throw off superflous solder, it would frequently throw off too much at points so as to leave unsoldered places, causing leaks .

   • 2018, Robert Routledge, Discoveries and Inventions of the Ninteenth Century, page 123:

     The requirements of the traffic necessitate not only solidly contructed iron-covered snow-sheds, but massive snow-ploughs to throw off the track the deep snow which could no other way be prevented from interrupting the working of the line .

5. To expel, reject, or renounce.
   • 1727, Edward Strother, Materia Medica, page 196:

     Silver is gotten thus, They take the Ore and dry it, then they burn it, and powder it very fine, they dilute it with Water, and throw off the light Powder that swims at Top, by decanting gently:

   • 1852, Spencer Thomson, A Dictionary of Domestic Medicine and Household Surgery, page 194:

     Moreover, during the progress of disease, nothing assists more the powers of the constitution, which tends toward health, and to throw off the enemy, than a cheerful and hopeful mind; as the people call it, a "good spirit;"

   • 1914, Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon:

     They generally shut the mill down a little (when the belts are to be thrown off), and you have to take the belt in your hand and throw it off.

   • 2011, Tom Cunliffe, The Complete Day Skipper:

     If you don't have enough crew, just throw off everything except the stern line, then bring that in as you engage gear.

   • 2013, Frank Sargeson, Conversation in a Train and Other Critical Writings:

     Now it would be too much to say that the New Zealand novelist has to get completely out from under the shadow of these great men—nevertheless it is true that he must endeavour to throw off their influence, insofar as it may hinder him from attempting to grapple with the New Zealand scene.

   • 2017, David J. Landegent, Colossians: A Commentary:

     We might expect Paul to tell the colossians to throw off the same sins that they were to necrotize, but instead he provides a new list of five sins which need to be removed.

   • 2018, Ken Casey, Tournament Bridge for Beginning Players:

     Whenever you have a singleton and QJx, you get to throw off 2 losers, not just one.

   • 2018, Jonathan Wyatt, Therapy, Stand-Up, and the Gesture of Writing:

     Reality itself, in the way of the abject, keeps returning to the stand-up comedian, who throws it off in the form of jokes.

6. To split off.
   • 1824, John Claudius Loudon, An Encyclopaedia of Gardening, page 968:

     And when what is called the black sap is descending the tree, the bark taken off is black, and loses its original color; and at this time also the bark begins to throw off a scurf , more especially young bark without much cork on it ; this outer skin having less of the proper sap or juice , and being much drier when taken off , will weigh less , and consequently will not be so valuable .

   • 1826 June, “Geography of Central Africa: Denham and Clapperton's Journals”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 19, page 700:

     The Reviewer states: "Bellal told Major Denham that the KOWARA did not throw off a branch at Boussa, but that a CONFLUENCE of branches took place at Boussa, the one from the south and the other from the NORTHWEST."

   • 1941 March, “Notes and News: Railway Isolation in the Pennines”, in Railway Magazine, page 140:

     This is the branch of the Midland Division of the L.M.S.R. from Garsdale to Hawes, incidentally the only branch thrown off by the Settle and Carlisle main line in the 73 miles of its length from Settle junction to Petteril junction, Carlisle.

   • 2022, Thomas Henry Huxley, Lectures and Essays:

     That is the case with many bulbous plants, which throw off in this way secondary bulbs, which are lodged in the ground and become developed into plants.

7. To give forth in an unpremeditated manner.
   • 1904, Walter Mason Camp, Notes on Track: Construction and Maintenance - Volume 2, page 720:

     Then when the work train comes along it will be an easy matter to throw off the required number, almost in place.

8. To deduct from a price in order to compensate for problems.
   • 1885, Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio - Volume 81, page 182:

     Now , wasn't it the understanding that you and Hall together were to throw off two thousand dollars from the amount, or from your interest in bid?

   • 1897, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division Third Dept. Vol. 72, page 36:

     Mr. Parsons came in to see me about the matter, and wanted to know what I would throw off from the mortgage. I told him I wouldn't throw off one cent, and I had no reason why I should throw off anything, that I was protected.

   • 1915, The Northwestern Reporter - Volume 152:

     I wanted him to throw off $1.25 an acre for the land not plowed.

Related terms

• (expel) chuck off

Translations

lose a pursuer

• Spanish: librarse de, deshacerse de, dar esquinazo a

skew by introducing errors or inaccuracies

• French: mettre dedans (fr), foirer (fr)

Noun

throw off (plural throw offs)

1. Alternative form of throw-off
   • 1900, Bulletin of the International Railway Congress Association, page 3069:

     Throw off points were first introduced in England , and are used very generally at coal sidings , private sidings etc.

   • 1974, Franko Blazic, Zorko Soric, Team Handball, page 57:

     The throw off shall be taken within 3 minutes from the centre of the court

   • 2006, Juanita Bynum, Walking in Your Destiny, page 130:

     In other words, there should not be innuendoes, throw offs, and hints about subject matter.

Anagrams

• offthrow