v. - cause offence to, upset.

- displease, anger.

- (often foll. By against) do wrong; transgress. offender n. Offending adj. [latin offendo offens- strike against, displease]

n. - room or building used as a place of business, esp. For clerical or administrative work.

- room or area for a particular business (ticket office).

- local centre of a large business (our london office).

- position with duties attached to it.

- tenure of an official position (hold office).

- (office) quarters, staff, or collective authority of a government department etc. (foreign office).

- duty, task, function.

- (usu. In pl.) Piece of kindness; service (esp. Through the good offices of).

- authorized form of worship. [latin officium from opus work, facio fic- do]

n. More distant part of the sea in view. in the offing not far away; likely to appear or happen soon. [probably from *off]

adj. & adv. - out of tune.

- not quite fitting.

—n. - side-shoot from a plant serving for propagation.

- compensation, consideration or amount diminishing or neutralizing the effect of a contrary one.

- sloping ledge in a wall etc.

- bend in a pipe etc. To carry it past an obstacle.

- (often attrib.) Method of printing in which ink is transferred from a plate or stone to a rubber surface and from there to paper etc. (offset litho). —v. (-setting; past and past part. -set) 1 counterbalance, compensate.

- print by the offset process.

n. Can with a long nozzle for oiling machinery.

pension n. = *retirement pension. old-age pensioner n.

attrib. Adj. Involving or operated by only one man.

—attrib. Adj. Made or done as the only one; not repeated. —n. One-off occurrence, achievement, etc.

adj. Allowing movement, travel, etc., in one direction only.