Offing vs Abyss - What's the difference?
offing | abyss |
(nautical) The area of the sea in which a ship can be seen in the distance from land, excluding the parts nearest the shore, and beyond the anchoring ground.
*1610', , ''Purchas His Pilgrimes ,
*:I came to an Anchor in seven fathomes water in the offing to Sea.
* 1719 ,
*1851 ,
(nautical) The distance that a ship at sea keeps away from land, often because of navigational dangers, fog and other hazards; a position at a distance from shore.
* 1719 ,
* 1768-71', published '''1893 ,
*:However, what with the help of this Ebb, and our Boats, we by Noon had got an Offing of 1 1/2 or 2 Miles, yet we could hardly flatter ourselves with hopes of getting Clear…
*1846 ,
*:We beat off shore during the whole of the night, when the weather moderated, and at daybreak we found out that we had not gained much offing , in consequence of the current…
(figuratively) The foreseeable future. Chiefly in the phrase in the offing .
Hell; the bottomless pit; primeval chaos; a confined subterranean ocean.
(frequently, figurative) A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable; any void space.
Anything infinite, immeasurable, or profound.
Moral depravity; vast intellectual or moral depth.
An impending catastrophic happening.
(heraldry) The center of an escutcheon.
As nouns the difference between offing and abyss
is that offing is (nautical) the area of the sea in which a ship can be seen in the distance from land, excluding the parts nearest the shore, and beyond the anchoring ground while abyss is hell; the bottomless pit; primeval chaos; a confined subterranean ocean .As a verb offing
is .offing
English
Noun
(en noun)p84
- I, poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked during a dreadful storm in the offing , came on shore on this dismal, unfortunate island, which I called The Island of Despair ; all the rest of the ship's company being drowned, and myself almost dead.
- That's the Grampus's crew. I seed her reported in the offing this morning; a three years' voyage, and a full ship.
- …I saw the land run out a great length into the sea, at about the distance of four or five leagues before me; and the sea being very calm, I kept a large offing to make this point.
