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Off A
Off suggesting get rid of My feet were hot, so I kicked off my shoes. [removed with my feet] The robbers drove faster and faster to try and shake off the police car. [lose] I went for a long walk to work off my frustation. [get rid of a feeling (often unpleasant) by doing something energetic] Archie doesn’t worry about anything – he’ll shrug off any problem. [treat something as unimportant]
B
C
Off suggesting separation phrasal verb
definition of phrasal verb
example
be cut off
be unable to see many other people
My office is in a different building from my colleagues, so I am quite cut off.
cut off sth/sb or cut sth/sb off
stop providing something, e.g. aid, electricity, supplies
They cut off our electricity / cut us off because we hadn’t paid the bill.
split off
form a separate group
Two of the climbers split off from the group and went off on their own.
back off
(slightly informal) stop being involved in a situation, especially in order to allow other people to deal with it themselves
She was interfering, so I told her to back off and let me deal with it on my own.
have sth off
spend time away from work
I had a week off last June.
cordon off sth or cordon sth off
put something, e.g. a rope, a barrier, around an area in order to stop people from entering it
The police have cordoned off the area the president will be visiting.
Off suggesting starting or finishing I’ll fill in the first line of this spreadsheet to start you off, and then you can do the rest yourself. [help you to start] The weekly meeting usually kicks off around 2 p.m. [(informal) starts] We rounded off the meal with freshly brewed coffee. [finished] That boring meeting just finished me off. I think I’ll go home; I’ve had enough for one day. [made me feel so weak, tired or unhappy that I couldn’t continue] It’s nice to just switch off at the weekend and forget about work. [stop giving your attention to someone or something]
D
Other verbs with off Ben told his little brother to leave off playing his new guitar. [(informal) stop] William told his younger sister to shove off out of his room. [(informal) something that you say when you are angry to tell someone to go away.] Layla wanted to show her new bike off to her friends. [show someone or something that you are proud of to a group of people] The boss gave the receptionist a ticking off for making private calls to friends. [telling someone that you are angry with them because they have done something wrong]
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English Phrasal Verbs in Use Advanced
