OFF

1. Off is used with many verbs to indicate that something becomes physically detached or separated from something else. (This usage is intransitive). ‘I fell off my bicycle and grazed my knee’.

The action can also be causative; that is, someone causes something to become detached. (This usage is transitive). ‘He couldn’t unscrew the cap, so he pulled it off the bottle’.

Break, come, cordon, cross, cut, drop, fall, get, knock, pull, rip, scrape, seal, shake, take, tear off.

2. Off can also convey the idea of leaving, departing, withdrawing or moving away from something. In this respect, it is very similar to away (see pp. 11, Meaning 2). ‘Paul stopped talking and ran off when he saw his bus coming’.

Be, blast, dash, drive, get, go, knock, make, move, ride, run, rush, see, send, set, shoot, start, take off.

3. Another meaning of off is to lose value or intensity (e.g. to fall off), to recede, or to disappear altogether. These meanings can also be causative (e.g. to cross off). ‘When summer came, my brother decided to shave his beard off’.

Beat, carry, cross, drain, ease, fall, finish, go, head, laugh, lay, pass, polish, round, sell, shave, shrug, tail, wash, wear, wipe off.

4. Off means to disconnect (a machine, an electrical appliance) or to disrupt the flow of (a process). In this sense, it is the opposite of on. ‘Please turn the heater off’.

Be, break, call, close, cut, get, log, put, shut, switch, turn off.

5. Off means to alight or dismount from certain forms of transport. ‘She stepped off the bus and walked to the nearby restaurant’.

Climb, fall, get, jump, slide, slip, step, walk off.

6. We use off when referring to removing garments or clothing. ‘Take off your coat and hang it up there’.

Get, kick, tear, throw off.

7. Off is also used in phrasal verbs that mean "to protect from intrusion". 'All the area of the crime was cordoned off''.

8. It also means reduction. elimination, exclusion. 'When we complained about the service, the waiter the waiter took off $40 from the bill'.

9. Other meanings of off

Be, bring, doze, give, go, let, nod, pay, pull, rip, run, set, show, take, tell, tip, turn off.