throwoff (third-person singular simple presentthrows off,present participlethrowing off,simple pastthrew off,past participlethrown off)
- (idiomatic) Toconfuse; especially, tolose apursuer.
I never saw her without glasses before, so itthrew meoff when she got contact lenses.
1940, Lord Dunsany,The Story of Mona Sheehy, page170:"Then," said the tinker, "maybe the thing for us to do would be to go by queer ways, by bohereens and the like of that, and for us to get of the straight road to Rathmoon, the way that no-one will find us except the tinkers, for we can'tthrow off them."
'1999, Jon Sharpe,Trailsman 207: Chimney Rock Burial:"Well," he said as they reached the livery, "we could go north orthrow them off our trail. That would add a day to our trip, though."
- (idiomatic) To introduceerrors orinaccuracies; toskew.
The dirt in the apparatusthrew off the results.
2011, Tom Verducci,Inside Baseball: The Best of Tom Verducci:“Varying the speeds of your pitches tothrow off the timing of the hitter is much more important than it used to be,” Yankees righthander David Cone says.
2020, Max Domi,No Days Off: My Life with Type 1 Diabetes and Journey to the NHL, page54:Too much activity one day canthrow off my blood sugar as much as if I am not active the next.
- (transitive) Of a horse, to eject its rider.
- Toflingaway.
1882 March 11, Richard A. Proctor, “The Vistas of the Past: The Moon and the Earth”, inThe Living Age, volume152, page813:Long before the tidal wave had again grwon sufficiently high tothrow off spray, the spray lastthrown off would have passed beyond its reach.
1910,The Federal Reporter - Volume 180, page423:It was conceded on the final hearing and is shown by the proof, and I find as a fact that, while this rapid revolution of the cans fresh from the solder bath would throw off superflous solder, it would frequentlythrow off too much at points so as to leave unsoldered places, causing leaks .
2018, Robert Routledge,Discoveries and Inventions of the Ninteenth Century, page123:The requirements of the traffic necessitate not only solidly contructed iron-covered snow-sheds, but massive snow-ploughs tothrow off the track the deep snow which could no other way be prevented from interrupting the working of the line .
- Toexpel,reject, orrenounce.
1727, Edward Strother,Materia Medica, page196:Silver is gotten thus, They take the Ore and dry it, then they burn it, and powder it very fine, they dilute it with Water, andthrow off the light Powder that swims at Top, by decanting gently:
1852, Spencer Thomson,A Dictionary of Domestic Medicine and Household Surgery, page194:Moreover, during the progress of disease, nothing assists more the powers of the constitution, which tends toward health, and tothrow off the enemy, than a cheerful and hopeful mind; as the people call it, a "good spirit;"
1914,Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon:They generally shut the mill down a little (when the belts are to bethrown off), and you have to take the belt in your hand andthrow it off.
2011, Tom Cunliffe,The Complete Day Skipper:If you don't have enough crew, justthrow off everything except the stern line, then bring that in as you engage gear.
2013, Frank Sargeson,Conversation in a Train and Other Critical Writings:Now it would be too much to say that the New Zealand novelist has to get completely out from under the shadow of these great men—nevertheless it is true that he must endeavour tothrow off their influence, insofar as it may hinder him from attempting to grapple with the New Zealand scene.
2017, David J. Landegent,Colossians: A Commentary:We might expect Paul to tell the colossians tothrow off the same sins that they were to necrotize, but instead he provides a new list of five sins which need to be removed.
2018, Ken Casey,Tournament Bridge for Beginning Players:Whenever you have a singleton and QJx, you get tothrow off 2 losers, not just one.
2018, Jonathan Wyatt,Therapy, Stand-Up, and the Gesture of Writing:Reality itself, in the way of the abject, keeps returning to the stand-up comedian, whothrows it off in the form of jokes.
- Tosplit off.
1824, John Claudius Loudon,An Encyclopaedia of Gardening, page968:And when what is called the black sap is descending the tree, the bark taken off is black, and loses its original color; and at this time also the bark begins tothrow off a scurf , more especially young bark without much cork on it ; this outer skin having less of the proper sap or juice , and being much drier when taken off , will weigh less , and consequently will not be so valuable .
1826 June, “Geography of Central Africa: Denham and Clapperton's Journals”, inBlackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume19, page700:The Reviewer states: "Bellal told Major Denham that the KOWARA did notthrow off a branch atBoussa, but that a CONFLUENCE of branches took placeat Boussa, the one from thesouth and the other from the NORTHWEST."
1941 March, “Notes and News: Railway Isolation in the Pennines”, inRailway Magazine, page140:This is the branch of the Midland Division of the L.M.S.R. from Garsdale to Hawes, incidentally the only branchthrown off by the Settle and Carlisle main line in the 73 miles of its length from Settle junction to Petteril junction, Carlisle.
2022, Thomas Henry Huxley,Lectures and Essays:That is the case with many bulbous plants, whichthrow off in this way secondary bulbs, which are lodged in the ground and become developed into plants.
- To give forth in anunpremeditated manner.
1904, Walter Mason Camp,Notes on Track: Construction and Maintenance - Volume 2, page720:Then when the work train comes along it will be an easy matter tothrow off the required number, almost in place.
- Todeduct from a price in order to compensate for problems.
1885,Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio - Volume 81, page182:Now , wasn't it the understanding that you and Hall together were tothrow off two thousand dollars from the amount, or from your interest in bid?
1897,Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division Third Dept. Vol. 72, page36:Mr. Parsons came in to see me about the matter, and wanted to know what I wouldthrow off from the mortgage. I told him I wouldn'tthrow off one cent, and I had no reason why I shouldthrow off anything, that I was protected.
1915,The Northwestern Reporter - Volume 152:I wanted him tothrow off $1.25 an acre for the land not plowed.
- (informal, transitive) To remove (clothing) haphazardly and tossing it on the floor.
Shethrew off her coat.
- (slang, Australia) Toinsult or verbally abuse (someone).
- (backgammon)Synonym ofbear off
skew by introducing errors or inaccuracies
throwoff (pluralthrow offs)
- Alternative form ofthrow-off
1900,Bulletin of the International Railway Congress Association, page3069:Throw off points were first introduced in England , and are used very generally at coal sidings , private sidings etc.
1974, Franko Blazic, Zorko Soric,Team Handball, page57:Thethrow off shall be taken within 3 minutes from the centre of the court
2006, Juanita Bynum,Walking in Your Destiny, page130:In other words, there should not be innuendoes,throw offs, and hints about subject matter.
