off baseadv.adj.
/ɒfˈbeɪs/, U.S. /ˈɔfˈbeɪs/, /ˈɑfˈbeɪs/ Originally U.S.
A. adv.
1.
a. Baseball. Away from a base, and therefore in a position to be put out. Also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1872 Brooklyn Daily Eagle 30 July 3/9 The Atlantics..would have made another [run] had not Thake got caught off his base.]
1881 Brooklyn Daily Eagle 15 June 1/9 Ester was caught off base on returning and Say, by a wild throw to third, scored.
1928 B. Cormack Racket 45 Listen! You get off base with Joe Scarsi and you'll get tagged out.
1943 J. G. T. Spink et al. Baseball Guide & Rec. Bk. Gloss. 102 Napping or caught napping, picked off base.
2003 Daily News (Newport, Virginia) (Nexis) 27 July h3 The Mets had two runners on base, both of them rookies, and—this is the truth—somehow both Mets base runners managed to get picked off base on the same play.
b. Unawares, off one's guard, by surprise.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > [adverb] > without expectation
unexpectingly1801
unanticipatingly1891
off base1935
1935 N.Y. Times 23 Aug. 32/6 Senator Bankhead has been shown up and caught off base.
1948 Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Okla.) 26 May 6/4 There are more men caught off base at cocktail parties than ball games.
1985 M. W. Fishwick Seven Pillars Pop. Culture 96 Beecher became in due time the classic example of a pompous ass who got caught off base.
2. Away from a military base.
ΚΠ
1942 N.Y. Times 6 July 2/3 They were captured merely through being off base at a time when the opposition chose to make a quick thrust—a thing that could happen to any soldiers.
1977 R. Gadney Champagne Marxist xiv. 92 ‘I'd like to speak with you.’ ‘Fine.’ ‘Off-base?’ ‘Of course, if that's what you want.’
1995 Daily Tel. 19 July 14/6 Most [crimes] took place off-duty and off-base, but enlisted Army men were photographed making recognised gang signals during the Gulf war.
B. adj.
1. North American. In predicative use: off-target; misguided, mistaken, wrong.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [adjective] > amiss, out of order
amissc1325
out of harrea1327
wronga1425
wide1545
misplaced1563
awrya1586
ajar1807
off the rails1848
agley1882
blooey1920
off-centre1930
off base1940
snafued1944
off target1954
off beam1958
1940 N.Y. Times 17 Mar. iv. 10/5 We only think on the basis of a casual reading that they're off base.
1955 W. C. Gault Ring around Rosa vii. 88 You're way off base, Bobby, and I think this kind of talk is in poor taste.
1974 Publishers Weekly 18 Mar. 43/1 Off base with his moralizing, an innocent in economics, overshadowed by the Kennedys.
1987 Amer. Survival Guide Aug. 23/3 I..usually find him informative and knowledgeable, but in this case, I think he was really off base.
2002 Cigar Aficionado Jan. 108/1 TiVo's programming suggestions are off base about as often as they're right.
2. Situated or occurring away from a military base.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > military position > [adjective] > off-base
off base1947
1947 N.Y. Times 29 Dec. 19/3 Issuing..off-base passes only to those men who avoid exposure to disease.
1962 Economist 1 Dec. 921/2 136 families live on the base, 220 in an off-base village.
1976 C. J. Stokes & E. M. Fisher Housing Market Performance U.S. vi. 96 The military basic allowance for quarters..pays at least part of the off-base housing cost of officer and enlisted personnel families.
1990 A. Beevor Inside Brit. Army xvi. 232 Guarding U S bases, assisting with ‘off-base deployment’ and providing support for training.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.adj.1881