Compound words with OFF

OFF is a hinge word: 7 words make a compound in front of it and 9 make one after it, so it can sit in the middle of a chain and hold two compounds together at once.

Words that go in front of OFF

Each of these makes a compound ending in OFF.

• cutoff — cut + off
• knockoff — knock + off
• payoff — pay + off
• runoff — run + off
• standoff — stand + off
• takeoff — take + off
• turnoff — turn + off

Words that follow OFF

Each of these makes a compound starting with OFF.

• offhand — off + hand
• offline — off + line
• offload — off + load
• offscreen — off + screen
• offset — off + set
• offshore — off + shore
• offside — off + side
• offspring — off + spring
• offstage — off + stage

Why OFF joins on both sides

OFF is a particle of separation. TAKEOFF and KICKOFF are frozen verb phrases, while OFFSHORE, OFFHAND and OFFSPRING keep the older sense of away-from.

Bridges you can build through OFF

Put any word from the first list in front and any word from the second behind, and you have a three-word chain in which both neighbouring pairs join. Here are some of them.

• CUT → OFF → HAND — cutoff and offhand
• KNOCK → OFF → LINE — knockoff and offline
• PAY → OFF → LOAD — payoff and offload
• RUN → OFF → SCREEN — runoff and offscreen
• STAND → OFF → SET — standoff and offset
• TAKE → OFF → SHORE — takeoff and offshore
• TURN → OFF → SIDE — turnoff and offside

Play a bridge

KEYSTONE is a free daily puzzle built entirely out of chains like these. You get the two ends and have to fill the two words in the middle. Three bridges a day, no account, no cookies.

Play today's KEYSTONE

Other hinge words

Each of these has a page like this one. There is also an index of all 28.

BACK · BALL · BED · BOARD · BOOK · BREAK · DAY · DOWN · FALL · FIRE · GUN · HAND · HEAD · HOUSE · LAND · LIFE · LIGHT · MAN · NIGHT · OUT · OVER · SHIP · SIDE · SOME · TIME · WAY · WORK