off: [OE] Off originated simply as the adverbial use of of. The spelling off, denoting the extra emphasis given to the adverb, began to appear in the 15th century, but the orthographic distinction between off for the adverb, and for prepositional uses associated with it (‘removal, disengagement’), and of for the ordinary preposition did not become firmly established until after 1600. => of
off (adv.)
by c. 1200 as an emphatic form of Old English of (see of), employed in the adverbial use of that word. The prepositional meaning "away from" and the adjectival sense of "farther" were not firmly fixed in this variant until 17c., but once they were they left the original of with the transferred and weakened senses of the word. Meaning "not working" is from 1861. Off the cuff (1938) is from the notion of speaking from notes written in haste on one's shirt cuffs. Off the rack (adj.) is from 1963; off the record is from 1933; off the wall "crazy" is 1968, probably from the notion of a lunatic "bouncing off the walls" or else in reference to carom shots in squash, handball, etc.
off (v.)
"to kill," 1930, from off (adv.). Earlier verbal senses were "to defer" (1640s), "to move off" (1882). Related: Offed.
双语例句
1. I feel it's done me good to get it off my chest.
我感觉吐吐苦水对我有好处。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Their first car rolls off the production line on December 16.
他们的第一辆车于12月16日下线。
来自柯林斯例句
3. French soldiers squared off with a gunman at a road checkpoint.
在一个公路检查站法国士兵摆开架势，准备迎战一名持枪者。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Lights reflected off dust-covered walls creating a ghostly luminescence.
灯光照在满是灰尘的墙上，反射回苍白的冷光。
来自柯林斯例句
5. "Telmex" was bought off the government by a group of investors.
