offender 
= Svn, Offender, Delinquent, culprit. Offender differs from 
deliiuiuet&in that a delinquent is, strictly, a negative trans- 
gressor one who neglects to comply with the requirements 
of the law, whereas an offender is a positive transgressor 
one who violates law or social rule. Both are general 
words, covering the offenses or delinquencies under divine 
or human laws, social usages, etc. 
offending (o-fen'ding), . The act of commit- 
ting an offense ; offense; fault; transgression; 
crime. 
The very head and front of my o/endmg 
Hath this extent, no more. 
Shak., Othello, i. 3. 80. 
offendress (p-fen'dres), n. [< offender + -ess.] 
A female offender. 
A desperate offendress against nature. 
Shak., All's Well, i. 1. 153. 
offense, offence (o-fens'), . [< ME. offense, 
offence, < OF. offense, offence, F. offense = Pr. 
offensa = Sp. ofensa = Pg. It. offensa, < L. 
offensa, an offense, orig. fern, of offensus, pp. of 
offendere, offend: see offend.] 1. Assault; at- 
tack: as, weapons or arms of offense. 
Courtesy . . . would not be persuaded to offer any of- 
fense, but only to stand up on the best defensive guard. 
For offence they [the Belgians] wore a ponderous sabre, 
and carried a Gaulish pike, with flame-like and undulat- 
ing edges. C. Elton, Origins of Eng. Hist., p. 116. 
2f. Harm; hurt; injury. 
Litel witen folk what is to yerne ; 
That they ne fynde in hire desire offence, 
For cloud of errour ne lat hem discerne 
What best is. Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 199. 
So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, 
Doing himself offence. Shak., J. C., iv. 3. 201. 
3. Transgression; sin; fault; wrong. 
This young Squyer suerly dede non offence, 
And thou hast smetyn hym here in my presence. 
Generydes (E. E. T. S.), L 552. 
He . . . offer'd himself to die 
For man's offence. Milton, P. L., iii. 410. 
Specifically, in law : (a) A crime or misdemeanor ; a trans- 
gression of law. It implies a violation of law for which 
the public authorities may prosecute, not merely one 
which gives rise to a private cause of action only. More 
specifically (b) A misdemeanor or transgression of the 
law which is not indictable, but is punishable summarily 
or by the forfeiture of a penalty. 
4. Affront ; insult ; injustice ; wrong ; that which 
wounds the feelings and causes displeasure or 
resentment. 
Many a bard without offence 
Has link'd our names together in his lay. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
5. Displeasure ; annoyance ; mortification ; um- 
brage; anger. 
4090 
offensive (Q-fen'siv), a. andw. [<F. offensif=Sp. 
ofeiusico ="Pg. It. offensive, < L. as if *offeMtoV, 
< offendere, pp. offensiis,oSend: see offend.] I. a. 
1. Serving to offend, assail, or attack ; used in 
attack: opposed to defensive: as, offensive wea- 
pons. 2. Consisting in or proceeding by at- 
tack; assailant; invading ; aggressive : opposed 
to defensive. 
There is no offensive War yet made by Spain against K. 
John. Howell, Letters, I. vi. 42. 
They say my lord duke, besides his business at the Hague, 
hath a general commission to treat with all princes for a 
league offensive and defensive against the house of Austria. 
Court and Times of Charles I., I. 60. 
3f. Serving to injure; injurious. 
4. Causing or giving offense ; fitted or intended 
to offend or give displeasure; provocative of 
displeasure; insulting; annoying; displeasing: 
as, an offensive remark; offensive behavior. 
An offensive wife 
That hath enraged him. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 1. 210. 
She did not exactly comprehend his manner, although, 
on better observation, its feature seemed rather to be lack 
of ceremony than any approach to offensive rudeness. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, vi. 
5. Disgusting; disagreeable; giving pain or 
unpleasant sensations: as, an offensive smell. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Aggressive, Offensive. See aggressive. 4. 
Invidious, Offensive (see invidious); distasteful, obnoxious, 
impertinent, rude, insolent, abusive, scurrilous. 5. Nau- 
seating, sickening, loathsome. 
II. n. With the definite article : An aggres- 
sive attitude or course of operations ; a posture 
of attack : as, to act on or assume the offensive. 
offensively (o-fen'siv-li), adv. 1. By way of 
invasion or unprovoked attack; aggressively. 
2. In an offensive or displeasing manner; 
displeasingly ; unpleasantly ; disagreeably. 
3f. Injuriously; mischievously. 
offensiveness (o-fen'siv-nes), n. The quality 
or condition of being offensive ; injuriousness; 
unpleasantness. 
Offer (of'er), v. [< ME. offren, < AS. offrian = 
OS. offron, offran = OFries. offaria, offria = D. 
MLG. offeren = OHG. ojifaron, offaron, MHG. 
opfern, ophern, G. opfern = Icel. Sw. offra Dan. 
of re, offer (in earliest Teut. use 'offer as a sac- 
rifice,' the eccl. use of the L. offerre in this sense 
explaining its earlyappearance in Teut.), = OF. 
(alsoF.)o#'nr = Pr. offrir,ufrir = It.offerire, of- 
',, offerare (cf. Sp. ofreeer = Pg. offerecer), 
[ uncle, b, 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., v. 6. 96. 
Capital, cumulative, infamous, military, etc., of- 
fense. See the adjectives. To give offense, to cause 
displeasure. 
To decline the acceptance of a present generally gives 
offence. E. W. Lane, Modern Egyptians, I. 269. 
To take Offense, to feel displeasure or resentment ; be of- 
fended. = Syn. 3. Misdeed, fault, delinquency, indignity, 
trespass. Referring to the comparison under crime, it 
may be added that offense is a very indefinite word, cover- 
ing the whole range of the others, while misdemeanor is 
a specific word, applying to an act which is cognizable by 
civil, school, family, or other authority, and does not ap- 
pear in the aspect of an offense against anything but law 
or rules. 6. Indignation, resentment. 
offenseless, offenceless (o-feus'les), a. [< of- 
fense + -less.] Unoffending; innocent; inof- 
fensive; harmless. 
Even so as one would beat his offenceless dog, to affright 
an imperious lion. Shak., Othello, ii. 3. 275. 
offenselessly, offencelessly (o-fens'les-li), adv. 
Inoffensively; harmlessly. 
offensiblet (o-fen'si-bl), a. [< OF. offensible, 
offensive, < LL. offensibilis, liable to stumble, < 
L. offendere, pp. offensus, stumble against, of- 
fend: see offend.] Causing offense; offensive. 
Those who wil take in hand any enterprise that natu- 
rally is seditious or offensible haue not to consider of the 
occasion that nioueth them to rise, but only the good & 
euil end which therof may proceede. 
Guevara, Letters (tr. by Hellowes, 1677), p. 239. 
offensiont (o-feu'shon), w. [ME. offensioun, < 
OF. offension = Sp. ' ofension = Pg. offensao = 
It. offensione, < L. offensio(n-), a striking against, 
offense, < offendere, pp. offensus, offend: see of- 
fend.] Assault; attack. 
My herd, myn heer that hongeth longe adoun, 
That nevere yit ne felte offensioun 
Of rasour nor of schere. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1558. 
offensioust. offencioust (o-fen'shus), a. [< of- 
fensi(on) + -ous.] Offensive. 
Ret. 'Tis Ramus, the king's professor of logic. 
Gui. Stab him ! 
Ram. Oh ! good my lord, wherein hath Ramus been so 
offenciomf Marlowe, Massacre at Paris, i. 8. 
>!, proffer, differ, prefer, refer, etc.] 
1. trans. 1. To bring or put forward ; present to 
notice; hold out to notice or for acceptance; 
present : sometimes used reflexively. 
And as ye offre yow to me, so I of re me to yow with trewe 
herte. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 482. 
A mixed scene offers itself. Burton, Anat. of Mel ., p. 613. 
I offer it to the reason of any Man, whether he think the 
knowledg of Christian Religion harder than any other Art 
or Science to attain. Milton, Touching Hirelings. 
Who shall say what prospect life offers to another? 
Thoreau, Walden, p. 13. 
2. To present for acceptance or rejection ; ten- 
der or make tender of ; hence, to bid or tender 
as a price : as, to offer ten dollars for a thing. 
Nor, shouldst thou offer all thy little store, 
Will rich lolas yield, but offer more. 
Dryden, tr. of Virgil's Eclogues, ii. 79. 
Our author offers no reason. Locke. 
3. To present solemnly, or as an act of wor- 
ship: often with up: as, to offer up a prayer; 
to offer sacrifices ; hence, to sacrifice ; immolate. 
With oute the Zate of that Temple is an Awtiere, where 
Jewes werein wont to offren Dowves and Turtles. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 87. 
Our Sauyour Criste was offerde vpon the same stone whan 
Symyon Justus toke hym in his armes. 
Sir Jt. Guylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 45. 
Thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin-offering for 
atonement. Ex. xxix. 36. 
An holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices. 
1 Pet ii. 5. 
4. To expose for sale. 5. To propose to give 
or to do; proffer; volunteer; show a disposition 
or declare a willingness to do (something): as, 
to offer help ; to offer battle. 
Since the 9th of July his readiness to "offer battle," or 
to "strike" when the proper moment should arrive, had 
oozed away. The Century, XXXVI. 285. 
6. To attempt to do ; set about doing (some- 
thing) to or against one; attempt; make a 
show of doing (something): as, to offer violence 
or resistance ; to offer an insult. 
offering 
I was af eard he would have flung a stone at my head, or 
otherwise have offered some violence to me. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 126. 
Offering to returne to the Boat, the Salvages assayed to 
carry him away perforce. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, I. 184. 
I rose up, and placed him in my own seat : a compliment 
I pay to few. The first thing he uttered was, "Isaac, fetch 
me a cup of your cherry-brandy before you offer to ask 
any question." Steele, Tatler, No. 266. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Adduce, Allege, Assign, etc. (see adduce), 
exhibit, extend, hold out, furnish, give, propound, propose, 
show, move. 
II. intrans. 1. To present itself; come into 
view or be at hand : as, an opportunity now 
offers. 
Th' occasion offers, and the youth complies. Dryden. 
2. To present or make an offering; offer up 
prayer, thanks, etc. ; present a eucharistic obla- 
tion. 
By water to White Hall, and there to chapel in ray pew. 
. . . And then the King come down and offered, and took 
the sacrament upon his knees. Pepys, Diary, I. 280. 
3f. To present one's self in order to pay court 
or respects ; pay one's respects. 
The oath which obliges the knights, whenever they are 
within two miles of Windsor, to go and offer. 
Walpole, Letters, II. 168. 
4f. To act on the offensive ; deal a blow. 
Gaffray a stroke gaffe tho his sculle vppon, 
He offeryng so, the helme rent and foulle raide. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3090. 
So that his power, like to a fangless lion, 
May offer, but not hold. 
SAo*.,2Hen. IV., iv. 1.219. 
To offer at to make an attempt at ; essay : as, the horse 
offered at the leap ; I will not offer at that which I cannot 
do. 
Offering at wit too 1 why, Galla, 
Where hast thou been ? B. Jonson, Catiline, ii. 1. 
offer (of'er), n. [= OFries. offer = D. offer = 
MLG. offer = OHG. opfar.opphar, offar, ophar, 
opfer, opher, MHG. opfer, G. opfer = Icel. offr = 
Sw. Dan. offer; from the verb.] 1. The act of 
presenting to notice or for acceptance, or that 
which is brought forward or presented to notice 
or for acceptance ; a proposal made and sub- 
mitted: as, his offer of protection was declined; 
to receive an offer of marriage. 
The offers he doth make 
Were not for him to give, nor them to take. 
Daniel. 
When offers are disdain'd, and love deny'd. 
Pope, B.. of the L., L 82. 
2. The act of bidding or proposing to give a 
price or to do for a price, or the sum bid; a 
tender or proposal to give or do something for 
a specified equivalent, or for something in re- 
turn : as, no offer of less than a dollar will be 
received ; he made an offer for the building of 
the bridge. 
When stock is high, they come between, 
Making by second hand their offers. 
Swift, South-Sea Project, st. 20. 
3. Attempt; endeavor; essay; show; pretense. 
I never saw her yet 
Make offer at the least glance of affection, 
But stUl so modest, wise ! Fletcher, Pilgrim, i. 1. 
He had no sooner spoken these words, but he made an 
offer of throwing himself into the water. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 118. 
4f. An offering ; something presented by way 
of sacrifice or of acknowledgment. 
Let the tribute offer of my tears procure your stay awhile 
with me. Sir P. Sidney. 
On offer, for sale. Promise and offer, in Scots law. See 
-Jerable (of'er-a-bl), a. [Cf. OF. offraUe; as 
offer + -able.] Capable of being offered. 
offerer (of'er-er), n. One who offers, in any 
sense of that word, or presents for acceptance ; 
one who sacrifices or dedicates in worship ; one 
who offers a proposal, or makes a bid or ten- 
der. 
Offering (of 'er-ing), n. [< ME. *offring, also, by 
confusion, offrende, < AS. offrung, ofrung (= 
MLG. offeringe = MHG. opferunge, G. opferitng 
= Sw. Dan. offring), an offering, sacrifice, verbal 
n. of offrian, offer: see offer, v.~] 1. The act of 
one who offers: as, there were few offerings in 
railroad shares to-day; heavy offerings in De- 
cember wheat. -2. That which is offered; a 
thing offered or given; a gift. Specifically (a) 
Something offered or presented in divine service, as an ex- 
pression of gratitude or thanks, to procure some favor or 
benefit, or to atone for sin or conciliate the Deity ; an obla- 
tion ; a sacrifice. In the ancient Jewish Church offerings 
were classed as burnt-offerings, peace-, sin-, and trespass- 
offerings. They may also be divided into animal or bloody 
off erings (sheep, goats, cattle, doves), and vegetable or un- 
bloody offerings, (b) A contribution (strictly a religious 
contribution given to or by means of a church) given for 
the support of some cause, or consecrated to some special 
