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by perfons that profefs religion. But the indifcreet and 
dangerous ufe of innocent and lawful things, as it does 
not (hock and offend our confciences, fo it is difficult to 
make people at all fenfible of the danger of it. Law.-*- To 
afiail ; to attack.—He was 'fain to defend himfglf, and 
withal lo to offend him, that by an unlucky blow the poor 
Philoxenus fell dead at his feet. > Sidney. —To tranfgrefs ; 
to violate.—Many fear more to offend the law. Ballad. — 
To injure: 
Cheaply you fin, and puniffi crimes with eafe, 
Not as the offended, but th’ offenders, pleafe. Drijden. 
To OFFEN'D, v. n. To be criminal; to tranfgrefs the 
law.— The bifiiops of the church of England did noways 
offend by receiving from the Roman church into our di¬ 
vine fervice, fuch materials, circumftances, or ceremonies, 
as were religious and good. White. —To caufe anger.—I 
Hi all offend , either to detain or give it. Shakefpeare's K. 
Lear.- —To commit tranfgreffion : with again ft. —Our lan¬ 
guage is extremely iniperfeft, and in many infiances it 
offends againjl every part of grammar. Swift. 
OFFEN'DER, /.’ A criminal; one wlTo has committed 
a crime ; a tranfgreffor ; a guilty perfion.—The confid¬ 
ence of the offender (hall be (harper than an avenger's 
fword. Richard/on's Clariffa. 
So like a fly the poor offender dies ; 
But, like the wai'p, the rich efcapes and flies. Denham. 
One who has done an injury : 
All vengeance comes too fliort, ■ 
Which can purfue the offender. Shakefpeare's K. Lear. 
OFFEN'DRESS, ft A woman that offends.—Virginity 
murthers itfelf, and (liould be buried in highways out of 
all fanftified limit, as a defperate offendrejs againlt nature. 
Shakefpeare's All's Well. 
OFF'ENHAUSEN, a town of Germany, in the terri¬ 
tory of Nuremberg: five miles north-north-weft of Al- 
torff. 
OFFEN'SIBLE, adj. Hurtful. Not in ufe. 
OFFEN'SIVE, adj. Caufing anger; difpleafing; dif- 
gufting.— It filial 1 fuffice, to touch fuch cultoms of the 
Irifh as feem offenfive and repugnant to good government. 
Spenfer. —The fun was in Cancer, in the hotteft time of 
the year, and the heat was very offenftve to me. Brown's 
Travels —Affailant; not defenfive. — We enquire con¬ 
cerning the advantages and difadvantages betwixt thole 
military offenftve engines ufed among the ancients, and 
thole of thefe latter ages. Wilkins. —Their avoiding, as 
much as pofiible, the defenfive part, where the main ftrefs 
lies, and keeping themfelves chiefly to the offenfive; per¬ 
petually objecting to the catholick fcheme, inftead of 
clearing up the difficulties which clog their own. Water- 
land. 
OFFEN'SIVELY, adv. Mifchievoufly; injuriously.—In 
the lead thing done offenfively againft the good of men, 
whofe benefit we ought to feek for as our own, we 
plainly Chew that we do not acknowledge God to be 
fuch as indeed he is. Hooker. —So as to caufe unealinefs 
or difpleafure.—A lady had her fight difordered, fo that 
the images in her hangings did appear to her, if the room 
were not extraordinarily darkened, embellilhed with fe- 
veral offenfivelij vivid colours. Boyle on Colours. —By way 
of attack; not defenfively.-— All I (hall obferve on this 
head is, to entreat the polemick divine, in his controverfy 
with the deifts, to aft rather offenfively than to defend ; 
to pufh home the grounds of his belief, and the imprac¬ 
ticability of theirs, rather than to fpend time in folving 
the objections of every opponent. Goldfmith's Effays. 
OFFEN'SIVENESS, J'. Injurioufnefs; mifehief.—Caufe 
of difguft.—The mufcles of the body, being preferved 
lound and limber upon the bones, all the motions of the 
parts might be explicated with the greateft eafe, and with¬ 
out any oftfenfivenefs. Grab's Miifeum. 
To OF'FER, v. a. [oyppuan, Sax. qffero, Lat.] To pre- 
fent; to exhibit any thing To as that it may be taken or 
received.— Servants, placing happinefs in ftrong drink, 
Vol.XVII. No. 1187. 
make court to my young inafter, by offering him that 
which they love. Locke. —The heathen women under the 
Mogul, offer themfelves to the flames at the death of their 
hu'bands; Collier. —To facrifice ; to immolate; to prelent 
as an aft of W'orfhip : often with up, emphatical.—They 
offered unto the Lord of the fpoil which they had brought, 
feven hundred oxen. 2 Chron. xv. 11.—-An holy prielt- 
hood to offer up fpiritual facrifices. 1 Pel. ii. 5. 
Whole herds of offer'd bulls about the fire, 
And briftled boars and woolly (heep, expire. Dryden. 
To bid, as a price or reward : 
Nor, (houldft thou offer all thy little (lore, 
Will rich Idas yield, but offer more. Dryden. 
To attempt; to commence.— Lyfimachus armed about 
three thouland men, and began firft to offer violence. 2 
Move. iv. 40.—To propofe.—Our author offers no reafon. 
Locke. 
To OF'FER, v.n. To be prefent; to be at hand; to 
prefent itfelf.—Th’ occafion offers, and the youth com¬ 
plies. Dryden. —To make an attempt.—I would treat the 
pope and his cardinals roughly, if they offered to fee my 
wife without my leave. Dryden. 
One offers, and in offring makes a ftay; 
Another forward lets, and doth no more. Daniel. 
With at; to make an attempt.—I will not offer at that 
I cannot mailer. Bacon. —Write down and make figns to 
him to pronounce them, and guide him by (hewing him 
by the motion of your own lips to offer at one ot thofe 
letters; which being the eafiell, he wiil (tumble upon one 
of them. Holder. —Without offering at any other remedy, 
we haftily engaged in a war, which hath coft us fixty mil¬ 
lions. Swift. 
OFTE R, f. Propofal of advantage to another : 
Some nymphs there are, too confcious of their face ; 
Thefe fiwell their profpefts, and exalt their pride, 
When offers are difdain’d, and love deny’d. Pope. 
Firft advance.—Force compels this offer. Shakejpeare. 
Mowbray, you overween to take it fo : 
This offer comes from mercy, not from fear. Shahefpeare. 
Propofal made.—It carries too great an imputation of ig¬ 
norance, or folly, to quit and renounce former tenets upon 
the offer of an argument which cannot immediately be 
anfwered. Locke. 
The offers he doth make 
Were not for him to give nor them to take. Daniel , 
Price bidden ; aft of bidding a price : 
When (lock is high, they come between, 
Making by fecond-hand.their offers: 
Then cunningly retire unfeen. 
With each a million in his coffers. Swift. 
Attempt; endeavour.—Many motions, though they be 
unprofitable to expel that which hurteth, yet they are 
offers of nature, and caufe motions by content ; as in 
groaning, or crying upon pain. Bacon. —Something given 
by way of acknowledgment.—Fairftreams, that do vouch- 
fafe in your clearnefs to reprefient unto me my blubbered 
face, let the tribute offer of my tears procure your (lay a 
while with me, that I may begin yet at laft to find fome- 
thing that pities me. Sidney. 
OF'FERABLE, adj. That may be offered.—Allowing 
all that hath Cefar’s image only on it, offerable to Cefar. 
W. Montague's Dev. Ej). 1648. 
OF'FERER,^ One who makes an offer: 
Bold offerers 
Of fuite and gifts to thy renowned wife. Chapman. 
One who facrifices, or dedicates in worffiip.—If the mind 
of the offerer be good, this is the only thing God re- 
fpefteth. Hooker. 
OF'FERING, J'. [opppiunj, Sax.] A prefent; gene. 
5 P rally 
