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Open vs Off - What's the difference?

open | off |

As adjectives the difference between open and off

is that open is which is not closed; accessible; unimpeded; as, an open gate while off is inoperative, disabled.

As verbs the difference between open and off

is that open is to make something accessible or remove an obstacle to its being accessible while off is to kill.

As a noun open

is a sports event in which anybody can compete; as, the Australian Open.

As an adverb off is

in a direction away from the speaker or object.

As a preposition off is

Used to indicate movement away from a position on

open

English

(wikipedia open)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (not comparable) Which is not closed; accessible; unimpeded; as, an open gate.
  • * 1908, (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows) , Chapter 2
    • The open road, the dusty highway
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}
  • Not drawn together, closed, or contracted; extended; expanded.
    • an open''' hand; an '''open''' flower; an '''open prospect
  • * Dryden
    • Each, with open arms, embraced her chosen knight.
  • (not comparable) Actively conducting or prepared to conduct business.
  • (comparable) Receptive.
  • * Bible, Acts xix. 33
    • If Demetrius have a matter against any man, the law is open and there are deputies.
  • * Shakespeare
    • The service that I truly did his life, / Hath left me open to all injuries.
  • (not comparable) Public; as, an open letter, an open declaration.
  • * Shakespeare
    • His thefts are too open .
  • * Milton
    • That I may find him, and with secret gaze / Or open admiration him behold.
  • (not comparable) Candid, ingenuous, not subtle in character.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • with aspect open , shall erect his head
  • * Shakespeare
    • The Moor is of a free and open nature.
  • * Addison
    • The French are always open , familiar, and talkative.
  • (mathematics, logic, of a formula) Having a free variable.
  • (mathematics, topology, of a set) Which is part of a predefined collection of subsets of X, that defines a topological space on X.
  • In current use; mapped to part of memory.
  • (business) Not fulfilled.
  • Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration.
    • an open question
    to keep an offer or opportunity open
  • (music, stringed instruments) Without any fingers pressing the string against the fingerboard.
  • Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing waterways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; used of the weather or the climate.
    • an open winter
    (Francis Bacon)
  • (phonetics) Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.
  • (phonetics) Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.
    • Synonyms
    * (not closed) accessible, unimpeded
    Antonyms
    * (accessible) closed, shut
    Derived terms
    (Terms derived from the adjective "open") * break open * clopen * drop open * half-open * keep a weather eye open * keep an eye open * lay open * open-air * open-and-shut * open-armed * open-arse * open bar * open book * open cluster * open-collar * open compound * open content * open design * open-ended * open-eyed * open-face * open-faced * open fireplace * open goal * open-handed/openhanded * open heart surgery * open-hearted * open-hearth * open house * open interest * open letter * open listing * open loop * open marriage * open matte * open mic * open mind * open-mouthed * open outcry * open outsourcing * open-plan * open problem * open proxy * open sandwich * open sea * open season * open secret * open sight * open source * open system * open water * open-work * openable * openside * Open University * wide open * with open arms

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make something accessible or remove an obstacle to its being accessible.
  • * , chapter=7
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=20 citation , passage=‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’}}
  • To bring up (a topic).
  • To make accessible to customers or clients.
  • To start (a campaign).
  • To become .
  • * , chapter=1
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • To begin conducting business.
  • To enter upon; to begin.
    • to open''' a discussion; to '''open''' fire upon an enemy; to '''open''' trade, or correspondence; to '''open a case in court, or a meeting
  • (cricket) To begin a side's innings as one of the first two batsmen.
  • (poker) To bet before any other player has in a particular betting round in a game of poker.
  • (transitive, intransitive, poker) To reveal one's hand.
  • To load into memory for viewing or editing.
  • To spread; to expand into an open or loose position.
    • to open a closed fist
    to open matted cotton by separating the fibres
  • (obsolete) To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • The king opened himself to some of his council, that he was sorry for the earl's death.
  • * Bible, Jer. xx. 12
    • Unto thee have I opened my cause.
    Antonyms
    * (to make accessible) close, shut
    Derived terms
    * open a can of whoop ass * open fire * open one's big mouth * open sesame * open shop * open the attack * open the face * open up * reopen *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A sports event in which anybody can compete; as, the Australian Open.
  • (electronics) a wire that is broken midway.
    • The electrician found the open in the circuit after a few minutes of testing.
  • (with the ) Open or unobstructed space; an exposed location.
    • I can't believe you left the lawnmower out in the open when you knew it was going to rain this afternoon!
    Wary of hunters, the fleeing deer kept well out of the open , dodging instead from thicket to thicket.
  • (with the ) Public knowledge or scrutiny; full view.
    • We have got to bring this company's corrupt business practices into the open .

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * * English adjectives ending in -en English ergative verbs 1000 English basic words ----

    off

    English

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a direction away from the speaker or object.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or
  • Into a state of non-operation; into a state of non-existence.

    • Usage notes

    * Used in many , off'' is an adverbial particle often mistakenly thought of as a preposition. (It ''can be used as a preposition, but such usage is rare and usually informal; see below.)

    Synonyms

    * away, out

    Antonyms

    * on, in

    Derived terms

    * back off * bite off * break off * bring off * call off * clean off * cut off, cutoff * die off * drop off * fall off * fuck off * get off * go off * goof off * hold off * keep off * kick off, kickoff * knock off * lay off, layoff * leave off * let off * light off * live off * make off * make off with * nod off * pay off, payoff * piss off * pull off * put off * ring off * rip off, ripoff * round off * run off, runoff * see off * set off * show off, showoff * sleep off * shake off * switch off * take off * tell off * tick off * turn off, turnoff * walk it off * wear off

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Inoperative, disabled.
  • :All the lights are off .
  • Rancid, rotten.
  • :This milk is off !
  • (cricket) In, or towards the half of the field away from the batsman's legs; the right side for a right-handed batsman.
  • Less than normal, in temperament or in result.
  • :sales are off this quarter
  • Circumstanced (as in well off'', ''better off'', ''poorly off ).
  • *
  • Started on the way.
  • :off to see the wizard
  • :And they're off ! Whatsmyname takes an early lead, with Remember The Mane behind by a nose.
  • *
  • Far; off to the side.
  • :the off horse or ox in a team, in distinction from the nigh or near horse
  • *
  • *:So this was my future home, I thought!Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
  • *1937 , (Zora Neale Hurston), Their Eyes Were Watching God , Harper Perennial (2000), p.151:
  • *:He came in, took a look and squinched down into a chair in an off corner and didn’t open his mouth.
  • Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from a post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent.
  • :He took an off''' day for fishing.  an '''off''' year in politics; the '''off season

    • Antonyms

    * (inoperative) on * (rotten) fresh * (cricket) on, leg

    Derived terms

    * off to the races

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • (Used to indicate movement away from a position on)
    • I took it off''' the table.''; ''Come '''off the roof!
  • (colloquial) Out of the possession of.
    • He didn't buy it off''' him. He stole it '''off him.
  • Away from or not on.
    • He's off''' the computer, but he's still on the phone.''; ''Keep '''off the grass.
  • Disconnected or subtracted from.
    • We've been off''' the grid for three days now.''; ''He took 20% '''off the list price.
  • Distant from.
    • We're just off''' the main road.''; ''The island is 23 miles ' off the cape.
  • No longer wanting or taking.
    • He's been off''' his feed since Tuesday.''; ''He's '''off his meds again.
    • Tantalum bar 6 off 3/8" Dia × 12" — Atom, Great Britain Atomic Energy Authority, 1972
    samples submitted … 12 off Thermistors type 1K3A531 … — BSI test report for shock and vibration testing, 2000
    I'd like to re-order those printer cartridges, let's say 5-off .

    Antonyms

    *

    Derived terms

    * off-campus * off one's feed

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (slang) To kill.
    • He got in the way so I had him offed .
  • (Singapore) To switch off.
    • Can you off the light?

    Derived terms

    * off-licence, off-license, offie, offy

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words 200 English basic words English contranyms English locatives English prepositions English three-letter words