Definition of Off-hand

1. Adverb. Without preparation. "I don't know the figures off-hand"

Exact synonyms: Ex Tempore

Definition of Off-hand

1. Adjective. (alternative spelling of offhand) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Off-hand

off-centre
off-chance
off-color
off-colour
off-come
off-corn
off-day
off-duty
off-duty(a)
off-field
off-flow
off-gas
off-gases
off-guard
off-guard(a)
off-hand (current term)
off-handed
off-hour
off-key
off-kilter
off-label
off-label use
off-licence
off-licences
off-limits
off-line
off-line equipment
off-line operation
off-load
off-loaded

Literary usage of Off-hand

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Giving the Derivation, Source, Or Origin of by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1898)
"... 10 that "off-hand" moat mean it was not " in hand." Off his Head. ... offhand ..."

2. Publishers Weekly by Publishers' Board of Trade (U.S.), Book Trade Association of Philadelphia, American Book Trade Union, Am. Book Trade Association, R.R. Bowker Company (1882)
"... and cheery narrative, full of fun and incident and considerable off-hand information, should not be lost sight of in selecting books ior a male friend. ..."

3. Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English: Containing Words from the by Thomas Wright (1857)
"off-hand, s. In Suffolk, a man holding a second farm on which he does not reside is said to farm it off-hand. Here'« old cheating. OFFICE, s. The eaves. ..."

4. The Bookman (1903)
"... he can tell you off-hand about the hotel accommodations in Singapore and the best way to estab- lish railway connections between Calcutta and Bombay. ..."

5. Our Wild Indians: Thirty-three Years Personal Experience Among the Red Men by Richard Irving Dodge (1884)
"... Thing in Serving — How Indians Cook for Themselves — An Off-Hand Roast —The Marrow-Bones —The Choicest Bonne Bouche — Enormous Feeders — Eating Twenty ..."

6. Early Indiana Trials and Sketches: Reminiscences by Oliver Hampton Smith (1858)
"Our attorneys were ready, off-hand practitioners, seldom at fault for the occasion. Sometimes we had to meet attorneys from other States, who would fling in ..."

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