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.
雙語例句
1. I feel it's done me good to get it off my chest.
我感覺吐吐苦水對我有好處。
來自柯林斯例句
2. Their first car rolls off the production line on December 16.
他們的第一輛車于12月16日下線。
來自柯林斯例句
3. French soldiers squared off with a gunman at a road checkpoint.
在一個公路檢查站法國士兵擺開架勢，準備迎戰一名持槍者。
來自柯林斯例句
4. Lights reflected off dust-covered walls creating a ghostly luminescence.
燈光照在滿是灰塵的墻上，反射回蒼白的冷光。
來自柯林斯例句
5. "Telmex" was bought off the government by a group of investors.