Definition of "off" [off]

• From a place or position: drove off. (adverb)
• At a certain distance in space or time: a mile off; a week off. (adverb)
• From a given course or route; aside: swerved off into a ditch. (adverb)
• Into a state of unconsciousness: I must have dozed off. (adverb)
• So as to be no longer on, attached, or connected: shaved off his mustache. (adverb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "-- When you desire to reform from drinking, never break off abruptly, which is dangerous; but _taper off_ gradually -- three glasses to-day, two to-morrow, and one the next day."
• "-- The Participle used as an adjective modifier, with the words belonging to it, is set off+ [Footnote: An expression in the body of a sentence is set off by two commas; at the beginning or at the end, by one comma.] +by the comma unless restrictive+."
• "(GEORGE _and_ BRIAN _go off at windows up_ L.) (DINAH _follows up_ R. _and watches them off_.)"