Definition: off

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

off
     adj 1: not in operation or operational; "the oven is off"; "the
            lights are off" [ant: on]
     2: below a satisfactory level; "an off year for tennis"; "his
        performance was off"
     3: (of events) no longer planned or scheduled; "the wedding is
        definitely off" [syn: cancelled] [ant: on]
     4: in an unpalatable state; "sour milk" [syn: sour, turned]
     5: not performing or scheduled for duties; "He's off every
        Tuesday"; "he was off duty when it happened"; "an off-duty
        policeman" [syn: off, off duty, off-duty]
     adv 1: from a particular thing or place or position; "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            school"; "they drove off"; (`forth' is obsolete as in
            "go forth and preach") [syn: away, forth]
     2: 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" [syn: away]
     3: no longer on or in contact or attached; "clean off the
        dirt"; "he shaved off his mustache"

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Off \Off\, adv. [OE. of, orig. the same word as R. of, prep.,
   AS. of, adv. & prep. [root]194. See Of.]
   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.
Off \Off\, interj.
   Away; begone; -- a command to depart.
Off \Off\, prep.
   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.
Off \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 nigh or
      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 \Off\, n. (Cricket)
   The side of the field that is on the right of the wicket
   keeper.
Edge \Edge\, v. i.
   1. To move sideways; to move gradually; as, edge along this
      way.

   2. To sail close to the wind.

            I must edge up on a point of wind.    --Dryden.

   To edge away or off (Naut.), to increase the distance
      gradually from the shore, vessel, or other object.

   To edge down (Naut.), to approach by slow degrees, as when
      a sailing vessel approaches an object in an oblique
      direction from the windward.

   To edge in, to get in edgewise; to get in by degrees.

   To edge in with, as with a coast or vessel (Naut.), to
      advance gradually, but not directly, toward it.