offense

nouncommon in dialogue

//əˈfɛns//
//ˈɔf.ɛns//
//ˈɑf.ɛns//

The act of offending. A crime or sin.

noun

1
The act of offending. A crime or sin.
The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.
2
The act of offending. An affront, injury, or insult.
Thus I have ventur'd to give my Opinion on this Subject againſt the Authority of tvvo great men, but I hope vvithout offence to either of their Memories, for I both lov'd them living, and reverence them now they are dead.
3
The state of being offended or displeased; anger; displeasure.
4
A strategy and tactics employed when in position to score; contrasted with defense.
5
The portion of a team dedicated to scoring when in position to do so; contrasted with defense.

Etymology

From Middle English offence, from Old French offense, from Latin offensa (“a striking against; displeasure; injury”).

Forms

plural: offenses

offence · UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada standard spelling of…offend · To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to…offender · One who gives or causes offense, or does something wrong.

offense · The act of offending. A crime or sin.

offensive · Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust,…offer · A proposal that has been made.Offer · A surname.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.