make off

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English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˌmeɪk ˈɒf/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Verb

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make off (third-person singular simple present makes off, present participle making off, simple past and past participle made off)

  1. (intransitive) To exit or depart; to run away.
    Synonyms: flee, run away
    As soon as he saw me, he turned around and made off down the road.
    • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities:
      [H]e was so frightened, being new to the sight, that he made off again, and never stopped until he had run a mile or more.
    • 2019 September 14, “Extinction Rebellion co-founder arrested at Heathrow protest”, in The Guardian[1]:
      But the Metropolitan police said while they attempted to arrest a man in Hornsey, north London, “he made off from them on foot”.
  2. To tie off, fix down or terminate the end of a rope, cable or thread.
    • 1958, Transactions of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers, volume 49:
      The object of good end-box technique is to make off the cable in a manner which resists ingress of air, moisture and cable box compound into the cable with as little interference with the lay and structure of the cable as possible.
    • 2007, FCS Electrical Systems and Construction L2, →ISBN:
      Make off the cable ends in metal glands.
    • 2014, Ralph Naranjo, The Art of Seamanship, →ISBN:
      If the fairlead (a cleat, chock, or genoa car to make off the line on) is located amidships...

Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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