make off

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmeɪk ˈɒf/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

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

• make off with
• make off without payment

Translations

to run away; to exit

• Catalan: fugir (ca)
• French: fuir (fr)
• German: sich davonmachen, sich aus dem Staub machen (de)
• Italian: fuggire (it)
• Norman: avitrer
• Portuguese: fugir (pt)
• Russian: убега́ть (ru) (ubegátʹ)
• Spanish: huir (es)
• Swedish: ge sig i väg, smita (sv), sjappa (sv) (slang)

Further reading

• “make off”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.