off limits

Out of bounds

statute of limitations

An act specifying the period within which certain action must be taken

within limits

To a limited extent

off /of/

adverb

1. Away
2. In or to a position that is not on something
3. In motion
4. Out of continuity
5. Out of connection, supply, activity, operation, or validity
6. To a finish, up
7. No longer available
8. In deterioration or diminution
9. Into freedom

combining form

Used to signify a knockout competitive event, esp one held to decide a draw, as in jump-off, play-off, swim-off

adjective

1. Most distant
2. On the opposite or farther side
3. On the offside of a cricket field
4. (of a horse or vehicle) right
5. Out of condition or form
6. Not devoted to the particular or usual activity (eg off-day, off-season)

preposition

1. From
2. Away from
3. Removed from
4. Opening out of
5. In or to a position or condition that is not on
6. Disengaged from
7. Disinclined to, not wanting
8. Out to sea from
9. From a dish of
10. From a ball bowled by (cricket)
11. With a handicap of (golf)
12. Not up to the usual standard of
13. Not eating or drinking
14. Not subject to or following

noun

1. The offside
2. (with the) the start, as in ready for the off

transitive verb

1. To put off
2. To take off
3. To kill (US sl)

intransitive verb (or transitive verb with it)

1. To go off
2. To take off (with with; informal)

interjection

Away! depart!

offˈing noun

1. The region some distance offshore
2. A place or time some way off

offˈish adjective

Aloof in manner

offˈishly adverb

offˈishness noun

offˈ-ward or offˈ-wards adverb

Off or away from, esp the shore

off-airˈ adjective

1. (of a recording, etc) received from a broadcast transmission
2. Relating to, but not broadcast as part of, a radio or television programme

off-and-onˈ adjective

1. Occasional
2. Intermittent

offˈ-beam adjective

Mistaken, wrong-headed, misguided

offˈbeat noun

Any of the usu unaccented beats in a musical bar

adjective

1. Away from standard
2. Unusual
3. Eccentric

offˈ-board adjective (commerce)

Of or relating to over-the-counter securities transactions

off break noun (cricket)

A ball that breaks from the offside towards the legside on pitching

off-Broadˈway adjective

1. (of US theatres) not on Broadway, the centre of commercial theatre in New York
2. Of or relating to the kind of theatre productions often presented in theatres not on Broadway, ie experimental, non-commercial, etc (off-off-Broadˈway of or relating to very low-cost, often highly experimental theatre, usu presented in cafés, etc, and often considered the US equivalent of British fringe theatre)

off-cenˈtre adjective

Not quite central

offˈ-chance or off chance noun

A remote chance (on the offchance or on the off-chance (with that or of) just in case, in the hope of (something happening))

off-colˈour or off-colˈoured adjective

1. (of eg a diamond) unsatisfactory in colour and so inferior
2. Of mixed race (offensive)
3. (off-colour) not completely healthy
4. (off-colour; of jokes, etc) smutty, blue (informal)

offˈ-come noun

1. A subterfuge (Scot)
2. A pretext (Scot)
3. The manner of coming off, issue or success

offˈ-comer noun (informal)

A person living in a place, esp a rural area, in which he or she was not born, an incomer

offˈcut noun

A small piece cut off or left over from a larger piece of some material (eg wood)

offˈ-cutter noun (cricket)

A fast bowler's delivery that moves from off to leg after pitching

offˈ-day noun

1. See off (adj) above
2. A day when one is not at one's best or most brilliant

off drive noun (cricket)

A drive to the offside (also intransitive verb and transitive verb)

offˈ-duty adjective

Not on duty

offˈ-fore adjective and noun

(relating to) the right foreleg of a horse, opp to near-fore

offˈ-grid adjective and adverb

Not using one or more public utilities

offhandˈ adverb

1. Extempore
2. At once
3. Without hesitating

adjective /ofˈhand/

1. Without study
2. Impromptu
3. Free and easy
4. Ungraciously curt or summary

offˈhandˈed adjective

offhandˈedly adverb

offhandˈedness noun

offhand grinding noun (engineering)

Grinding in which the tool, eg a grinding wheel, is held in the hand and worked freely

offˈ-job adjective

Outside normal work duties and conditions

offˈ-job training or offˈ-the-job training noun

The part of a training course that a trainee follows away from the workplace at a college, etc, eg one day a week

off-keyˈ adjective and adverb

1. Out of tune (lit and figurative)
2. Conflicting, jarring, discordant

offˈ-label adjective (US)

(of a prescription drug) used to treat a condition for which the Food and Drug Administration has not approved it (also adverb)

offˈ-licence noun

1. A shop with a licence to sell alcoholic liquors for consumption off the premises only
2. Such a licence

offˈ-limˈits adjective

Prohibited, out of bounds

offˈline or offˈ-line adjective and adverb (computing)

1. Not under the direct control of the central processing unit
2. Not connected, switched off

offˈload transitive verb and intransitive verb (orig S Afr)

1. To unload
2. To get rid of (something unwanted) by passing to someone else (with onto)
3. To pass (the ball) to a teammate just as one is tackled (rugby)

off-messˈage adverb and adjective (politics)

Not following the approved party line

off-off-Broadway see off-Broadway above.

offˈpeak adjective

1. Not at the time of highest demand
2. Relating to times of the day when television or radio audiences are smaller, advertising rates for these times being lower, opp to peak time

offˈ-piste adjective

Of or relating to skiing on new snow-surfaces, not on established tracks or runs

offˈ-plan adjective

Relating to a home, etc bought before (completion of) building on the basis of plans seen, or to the buyer of such a property

offˈprint noun

A reprint of a single article from a periodical

offˈput noun (Scot)

The act of putting off (in any sense)

offˈ-putter noun

offˈ-putting noun

An act of putting off

adjective

1. That puts off
2. Disconcerting
3. Causing disinclination or aversion

offˈ-puttingly adverb

offˈ-ramp noun (chiefly N American)

An exit road from a main thoroughfare

off-reckˈoning noun

1. (usu in pl) a deduction
2. An account between army officers and governments concerning the men's clothes, etc (obsolete)

offˈ-road adjective

1. Of or relating to paths, tracks, etc, as opposed to roads
2. Of or relating to vehicles, etc designed to operate away from roads

off-roadˈer noun

An off-road vehicle

off-roadˈing noun

The practice of driving over rough terrain in specially designed vehicles, esp as a sport

offˈsaddle transitive verb and intransitive verb

To unsaddle

off-salesˈ noun (S Afr)

A shop where alcoholic drinks can be bought for consumption elsewhere

offˈscouring noun

1. (usu in pl) matter scoured off
2. Refuse
3. Anything vile or despised

offˈscum noun

Scum, refuse

offˈseason noun, adjective and adverb

(of or at) a time (for eg a holiday) other than the most popular and busy

offˈset noun

1. A thing set off against another as equivalent or compensation
2. A lateral shoot that strikes root and forms a new plant
3. A mountain spur
4. A side branch of anything
5. A sudden change of direction in a pipe
6. A reduction of thickness or the (usu sloping) ledge formed where part of a wall, buttress, bank, etc, is set back from the general face
7. A hillside terrace (US)
8. A smudge on a newly printed sheet from another laid on it
9. Offset printing
10. In surveying, a perpendicular from the main line to an outlying point
11. A small deviation of voltage or current (elec)

adjective

Set at an angle to the main alignment

transitive verb /of-setˈ or ofˈset/

1. To set off against something as an equivalent or compensation
2. To print using an offset process
3. To construct an offset in a wall, etc

intransitive verb

1. To branch off
2. /ofˈset/ to make an effort

offsetˈable (or /ofˈ/) adjective

offset printing, offset lithography or offset-litho printing noun

A method of printing lithographs, etc, by first taking an impression from a plate on a rubber cylinder and then transferring the impression to paper or metal, etc, using oil-based ink

off-shakeˈ transitive verb (pap (Spenser) off-shaktˈ)

To shake off

offˈshoot noun

A branch or derivative of anything

offshoreˈ adverb

1. From the shore
2. At a distance from the shore
3. Abroad

adjective /ofˈshōr or -shör/

1. Placed or operating abroad
2. Sited or operating outside the restrictions of British law and tax

transitive verb and intransitive verb /ofˈshōr or -shör/

(of a business enterprise) to transfer (work, jobs, etc) to another country, usu one where workers can be paid a lower wage

offshore purchase noun

A purchase by one country in another

offˈside noun

1. The far side
2. A horse's or vehicle's right, towards the middle of the road
3. That half of a cricket field on the opposite side to that on which the batsman stands when waiting to receive the ball, separated from the legside by an imaginary line drawn from wicket to wicket
4. /of-sīdˈ/ an instance of a player standing illegally between the ball and the opponents' goal (football, etc)

adjective and adverb /of-sīdˈ/

1. On the offside
2. Between the ball, or the last player who had it, and the opponents' goal
3. In American football, over the line of scrimmage or free-kick line when the ball is snapped

offsīdˈer noun (Aust informal)

A subordinate or sidekick

offˈ-site adjective and adverb

(working, happening, etc) away from a working site, etc

offˈ-sorts plural noun

Wool set aside in sorting, or unsuitable for a given purpose

off spin noun (cricket)

Spin imparted to a ball to cause an off break

offˈ-spin adjective

off spinner noun (cricket)

Someone who bowls off breaks

offˈspring noun

1. A child or children
2. Progeny
3. Issue
4. Ancestry (obsolete)
5. Source (obsolete)

offˈ-stage adjective and adverb

Not on the stage as visible to the spectators

offˈ-stream adjective and adverb

(of an industrial plant, etc) not in operation or production

offˈ-street adjective

(of parking) in a car park

offˈtake noun

1. The act of taking off in any sense
2. A take-off
3. That which is taken off
4. A channel, passage, or pipe for removing a fluid

off-the-peg see under peg

off-the-shelf see under shelf

offˈ-white adjective

Not quite white, rather, yellowish or greyish white

noun

A colour, paint, etc, that is off-white

a bit off (informal)

(of behaviour, etc) unfair or unacceptable

badly off

Not well-off, poor

be off

To go away quickly (as a command, also be off with you)

break off and come off see under break¹ and come

from off

From a position on

go off and go off with see under go¹

go off on one (slang)

To lose one’s temper

ill off

Poor or ill provided

in the offing

1. In sight or at hand
2. Expected, or likely to take place, shortly

make off and make off with see under make¹

off and on

Occasionally, intermittently

off beam or off the beam see under beam or see off-beam above.

off duty see under duty

off line same as offline above.

off one's oats, feed, head, rocker or trolley see under oat, feed¹, head, rock² and trolley¹

off the charts see under chart

off the cuff see under cuff¹

off the face or shoulder

(of a woman's hat, dress, etc) so as to reveal the face or shoulder

off the peg see under peg

off the wall (orig US)

See under wall

off with

Take off at once

put off, show off or take off see under put¹, show and take

tell off see under tell¹

walk off and walk off with see under walk¹

well-off

1. Rich, well-provided
2. Fortunate