† on-and-offv.
Obsolete. rare.
1. intransitive. Nautical. To sail on alternate tacks on and off the shore.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > direct or manage ship [verb (intransitive)] > head in a certain course or direction > sail towards or away from shore alternately
to stand off and on1600
to stand on and off1778
on-and-off1823
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XII lxiii. 36 Who..keeps you on and off-ing, On a lee shore.
2. transitive. To jump on and then off (a surface).
ΚΠ
1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour xi. lxi. 345 ‘I'll have a word with you,’ said Sponge, ‘on and off-ing’ the hedge.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
<
v.1823