Off adv.  In a general sense, denoting from or away from; as:
 1. Denoting distance or separation; as, the house is a mile off.
 2. Denoting the action of removing or separating; separation; as, to take off the hat or cloak; to cut off, to pare off, to clip off, to peel off, to tear off, to march off, to fly off, and the like.
 3. Denoting a leaving, abandonment, departure, abatement, interruption, or remission; as, the fever goes off; the pain goes off; the game is off; all bets are off.
 4. Denoting a different direction; not on or towards: away; as, to look off.
 5. Denoting opposition or negation. [Obs.]
    The questions no way touch upon puritanism, either off or on.   --Bp. Sanderson.
 From off, off from; off. “A live coal . . . taken with the tongs from off the altar.” --Is. vi. 6.
 Off and on. (a) Not constantly; not regularly; now and then; occasionally. (b) Naut. On different tacks, now toward, and now away from, the land.
 To be off. (a) To depart; to escape; as, he was off without a moment's warning. (b) To be abandoned, as an agreement or purpose; as, the bet was declared to be off. [Colloq.]
 To come off, To cut off, To fall off, To go off, etc. See under Come, Cut, Fall, Go, etc.
 To get off. (a) To utter; to discharge; as, to get off a joke. (b) To go away; to escape; as, to get off easily from a trial. [Colloq.]
 To take off To do a take-off on, To take off, to mimic, lampoon, or impersonate.
 To tell off (a) Mil., to divide and practice a regiment or company in the several formations, preparatory to marching to the general parade for field exercises. --Farrow.  (b) to rebuke (a person) for an improper action; to scold; to reprimand.
 To be well off, to be in good condition.
 To be ill off, To be badly off, to be in poor condition.


 Tell v. t. [imp. & p. p. Told p. pr. & vb. n. Telling.]
 1. To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money. “An heap of coin he told.”
    He telleth the number of the stars.   --Ps. cxlvii. 4.
    Tell the joints of the body.   --Jer. Taylor.
 2. To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate.
    Of which I shall tell all the array.   --Chaucer.
    And not a man appears to tell their fate.   --Pope.
 3. To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge.
    Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?   --Gen. xii. 18.
 4. To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform.
 A secret pilgrimage,
 That you to-day promised to tell me of?   --Shak.
 5. To order; to request; to command.
    He told her not to be frightened.   --Dickens.
 6. To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to find out; to discover; as, I can not tell where one color ends and the other begins.
 7. To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate. [Obs.]
    I ne told no dainity of her love.   --Chaucer.
 Note: ☞ Tell, though equivalent in some respect to speak and say, has not always the same application. We say, to tell truth or falsehood, to tell a number, to tell the reasons, to tell something or nothing; but we never say, to tell a speech, discourse, or oration, or to tell an argument or a lesson. It is much used in commands; as, tell me the whole story; tell me all you know.
 To tell off, to count; to divide. --Sir W. Scott.
 Syn: -- To communicate; impart; reveal; disclose; inform; acquaint; report; repeat; rehearse; recite.