offence
part of speech
noun (an offence, offences)
meaning for a pupil
1) An offence is a crime or an act that breaks a law or rule. tree →
2) Offence is the feeling of being upset or insulted by what someone says or does. tree →
3) (US «offense», sport) The offence is the team or players who are attacking and trying to score. tree →
4) "No offence" is a polite phrase that asks someone not to be upset by what you are about to say. tree →
sense in the lessons
In citizenship lessons, offences range from small ones like dropping litter to serious crimes. In everyday life, «no offence» is said before something that might upset someone, and «take offence» means feel insulted. Phrases: a criminal offence, a minor offence, take offence, no offence, cause offence, first offence.
examples
- Dropping litter is an offence in many towns. tree →
- It is an offence to drive without a licence. tree →
- No offence, but I don't like your hat. tree →
- She took offence at his rude joke. tree →
- Since it was his first offence, he only got a warning. tree →
- Our team's offence scored three touchdowns. (US) tree →
- I didn't mean to cause offence. tree →
note
British spelling «offence», American «offense». Countable for crimes (an offence, offences), uncountable for the feeling («take offence»). The verb is «offend», the adjective «offensive». «No offence» often comes right before something rude.
In the corpora
- "No offence, but" comes just before something offensive.
- "No offence, but" warns that what comes next will offend.
- Just standing in an offside position is not an offence; getting involved in play is.
- A serious first doping offence can bring a ban of up to 4 years.
- If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for gentleness allayeth great offences.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «offence» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.