noun
- something that counterbalances, counteracts, or compensates for something else; compensating equivalent.
- the start, beginning, or outset.
- a short lateral shoot by which certain plants are propagated.
- an offshoot or branch of a specific population or family.
- any offshoot; branch.
- Also called offset printing, offset lithography. Lithography.
- a process in which a lithographic stone or metal or paper plate is used to make an inked impression on a rubber blanket that transfers it to the paper being printed, instead of being made directly on the paper.
- the impression itself.
- Also called setoff. Printing. an unintentional transfer of excess or undried ink from one printed sheet to another.
- Geology.
- (in faults) the magnitude of displacement between two previously aligned bodies.
- a spur of a mountain range.
- Machinery. a jog or short displacement in an otherwise straight and continuous line, as in a pipe, lever, or rod, made to avoid objects or to connect with other parts.
- Architecture. setoff(def 3).
- Surveying.
- a short distance measured perpendicularly from a main survey line.
- Also called offset line.a line a short distance from and parallel to a main survey line.
- Naval Architecture. any of the coordinates by which any point on a hull being planned is located.
adjective
- of, noting, or pertaining to an offset.
- Lithography. pertaining to, printed by, or suitable for printing by offset.
- placed away from a center line; off-center.
- placed at an angle to something, as to the axis of a form, shape, or object; not parallel.
verb (used with object), off·set, off·set·ting.
- to counterbalance as an equivalent does; compensate for: The gains offset the losses.
- to juxtapose with something else, as for purposes of comparison: to offset advantages against disadvantages.
- Printing.
- to make an offset of.
- to print by the process of offset lithography.
- Architecture. to build with a setoff, as a wall.
- Surveying. to establish (a line) parallel to a main survey line at an offset.
verb (used without object), off·set, off·set·ting.
- to project as an offset or branch.
- to counterbalance or compensate.
- Printing. to make an offset.
noun (ˈɒfˌsɛt)
- something that counterbalances or compensates for something else
- an allowance made to counteract some effect
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- a printing method in which the impression is made onto an intermediate surface, such as a rubber blanket, which transfers it to the paper
- (modifier)relating to, involving, or printed by offsetoffset letterpress; offset lithography
- another name for set-off
- botany
- a short runner in certain plants, such as the houseleek, that produces roots and shoots at the tip
- a plant produced from such a runner
- a ridge projecting from a range of hills or mountains
- the horizontal component of displacement on a fault
- a narrow horizontal or sloping surface formed where a wall is reduced in thickness towards the top
- a person or group descended collaterally from a particular group or family; offshoot
- surveying a measurement of distance to a point at right angles to a survey line
verb (ˌɒfˈsɛt) -sets, -setting or -set
- (tr) to counterbalance or compensate for
- (tr) to print (pictures, text, etc) using the offset process
- (tr) to construct an offset in (a wall)
- (intr) to project or develop as an offset
n.1550s, “act of setting off” (on a journey, etc.), from off + set (adj.). Meaning “something ‘set off’ against something else, a counterbalance” is from 1769; the verb in this sense is from 1792. As a type of printing, in which the inked impression is first made on a rubber roller then transferred to paper, it is recorded from 1906.
- A shoot that develops laterally at the base of a plant, often rooting to form a new plant. Many succulents and cacti are propagated by removing offsets and planting them elsewhere. See more at vegetative reproduction.