1. Off indicates movement from one place to another.       

Pattern 1: verb + off + noun
The car ran off the road.
We got off the train in New Orleans.                

Verbs used with this pattern:
blow, come, dive, drive, fall, get, go, hop, jump, limp, move, roll, run, slide, slip, walk

Expression:
to be off (adverb)—to leave
It's late, so we must be off.                 

Pattern 2: verb + noun + off + noun
They shoveled the snow off the driveway.        

Verbs used with this pattern:

 blow, brush, clean, clear, drive, get, move, pull, push, roll, run, scrape, shove, shovel, slide, slip, sweep, take, wash

2. Off can indicate separation.                       

Pattern: verb + off + noun
She cut off her beautiful long hair.                  

Verbs commonly used with this meaning:
break, chop, cut, pick, pull, saw, send, shave, take, tear, throw                      

3. Off means connected to or not far from.                   

Pattern: be + off + noun
Our street is off Main Street.                

Typical nouns after off:
beach, coast, highway, island, road, street, turnpike               

4. Off can indicate behavior that is not as usual or no longer true. 

Pattern 1: be/go + off + ø noun
The children are off school today.
I'm glad your cousin finally went off drugs.                

Nouns commonly used with this meaning:
alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, duty, school, work             

Pattern 2: be/go + off + one's + noun
She went off her diet again.                             

Typical nouns:
diet, medication, medicine, pills         

Expressions:
to be off course—to be going (or thinking) in the wrong direction
We got lost, and were off course for about three hours.
They got off course while doing the research, and wasted a lot of time.          

to be off one's game—not be playing as well as usual
The golf champion was off his game yesterday.             

to be off one's rocker—to be crazy
She feeds caviar to her cat; I think she's off her rocker.           

5. Off can indicate lack of contact.                      

Pattern 1: verb + off + noun
Please keep off the grass.                   

Verbs used with this pattern:
get, keep, lay, stay                              

Pattern 2: verb + noun + off + noun
Please keep the dog off the grass.                  

Verbs commonly used with this pattern:
get, keep, move, take                                      

6. Off means cause to stop functioning.                

Pattern: verb + off + noun
Please turn off the radio.                     

Typical verbs with this meaning:
turn, shut, switch                                

7. Expressions                       

off the record—not official or public
This is off the record, but I heard that our friends got married last week.                    

off the charts—too high or successful to measure
Our ratings are off the charts.                                      

off the wall—unacceptable
I'm sorry, but your ideas are really off the wall.           

off-chance (noun)—unlikely possibility
I stopped by, on the off-chance that you would be at home.                

off-limits (adverb)—forbidden territory
The bars are off-limits for teenagers.               

off-color (adjective)—in very bad taste, with a sexual reference
I can't believe that she tells so many off-color jokes.                          

off-hand (adjective, adverb)—very casual, casually
He made a few off-hand remarks that I didn't appreciate.                     

hit it off—to become friends right away
Your sister and my brother really hit it off at the party.            

be well off—to have few problems
Now that she has retired, she is pretty well off.           

be better/worse off—to have fewer or more problems
She is a lot better off than she was before.                              

8. Phrasal verbs            

back off (intransitive)—stop trying
The man was too aggressive and was told to back off.            

beg off (intransitive)—cancel a commitment
Our babysitter didn't come; she begged off at the last minute.             

break off (separable)—terminate a relationship
They couldn't agree on anything, so they broke off their engagement.            

call off (separable)—cancel an event
We called the picnic off because of rain.         

check off (separable)—mark on a list
She knows I was there; she checked off my name.                  

drop off (intransitive)—fall asleep
She kept dropping off during the meeting.                  

get off (nonseparable)—leave a vehicle you can walk around on
We got off the ship in Jamaica.                                                            

get off (separable)—remove, with some difficulty
She's trying to get the mud off her shoes.                   

goof off—waste time
Stop goofing off and get to work!        

kick off (intransitive)—the beginning of an event
The conference starts tomorrow; it will probably kick off at about ten.            

kill off (separable)—to destroy all members of a species
There is a danger that certain birds will be killed off.              

knock off (separable)—to stop doing something
I'm sick of your teasing. Knock it off!                          

lay off (separable)—fire from a job
They didn't need so many workers, so they laid him off.         

live off (nonseparable)—eat nothing but
We have been living off fruit and vegetables for weeks.           

mark off (separable)—to designate areas for a game
They are marking the field off for the soccer match.                

nod off—fall asleep
He is jet-lagged, and keeps nodding off during the day.          

pull off (separable)—manage to achieve success
The clients were difficult, but the managed to pull off the sale.           

put off (separable)—postpone
They put the picnic off until Tuesday.             

put off (separable)—repel
They didn't invite her back; her bad manners really put them off.                    

round off (separable)—use the nearest whole number
Don't use all those fractions; round off all the numbers.          

sell off (separable)—to sell everything
He sold off all his property and left town.        

sign off (intransitive)—to end a program
My favorite radio announcer signs off at midnight.       

take off (intransitive)—leave
The plane took off at four-thirty.          

take off (separable)—remove clothing
The sweater was too warm so he took it off.                

wear off (separable)—to disappear because of wear
I wore off the tread on my tires when I drove to California.                 

wipe off (separable)—to erase; to destroy completely
The gunman wiped his fingerprints off the weapon.                

write off (separable)—to no longer consider something to be of value
He wrote off his sister when she got into trouble.                                     

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