offense

English Online Dictionary. What means offense‎? What does offense mean?

English

Alternative forms

• offence (UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈfɛns/
• (team sports senses, especially in the U.S.): IPA^(key): /ˈɔf.ɛns/, /ˈɑf.ɛns/)
• Hyphenation: of‧fense

• Rhymes: -ɛns

Noun

offense (countable and uncountable, plural offenses) (American spelling)

1. The act of offending.
   1. A crime or sin.
   2. An affront, injury, or insult.
2. The state of being offended or displeased; anger; displeasure.
3. (team sports) A strategy and tactics employed when in position to score; contrasted with defense.
4. (team sports) The portion of a team dedicated to scoring when in position to do so; contrasted with defense.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:offense

Antonyms

• defense (US), defence (Commonwealth)

Derived terms

Related terms

• offensive
• offend
• offender

Translations

See also

• crime
• sin

Anagrams

• seen off

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.fɑ̃s/

Verb

offense

1. inflection of offenser:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ofˈfen.se/, [ɔfˈfẽːs̠ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ofˈfen.se/, [ofˈfɛnse]

Adjective

offēnse

1. vocative masculine singular of offēnsus