lie off

verb

lay off; lain off; lying off; lies off

intransitive verb

1
: to hold back in the early part of a race
2
: to keep a little away from the shore or another ship
3
: to cease work for a time

Examples of lie off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Orkney is an archipelago of 70 or so islands lying off the northeast tip of Scotland. Peter Ross, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025 Parts of the dense, equatorial mainland, as well as the islands that lay off the shore of the nascent capital, Cayenne, would be turned into labor camps and prisons for the most serious criminal offenders in mainland France. Rob Crossan, JSTOR Daily, 13 Dec. 2024 The new crustacean was discovered deep in the Atacama Trench that lies off of the coast of Peru, scientists reported in the journal . Jess Thomson, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024 Two light cruisers and the USS Utah lay off its starboard bow, and Battleship Row, the famed but vulnerable roadstead for the Navy’s mightiest, was on the other side of Ford Island. Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for lie off 

Word History

First Known Use

1573, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of lie off was in 1573

Dictionary Entries Near lie off

Cite this Entry

“Lie off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lie%20off. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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