off year


noun
  1. a year without a major, especially presidential, election.

  2. a year marked by reduced or inferior production or activity in a particular field, as farming, business, or sports: With its wet, cold summer, this was an off year for grapes.

Origin of off year

1
First recorded in 1870–75

Other words from off year

  • off-year, adjective

Words Nearby off year

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use off year in a sentence

  • At the present time the Red Astrachans are ripe and the two off-year branches are fairly well loaded with magnificent apples.

    In Pastures Green | Peter McArthur
  • Every President in the off-year election urges the election of a Congress of his own party.

    Woodrow Wilson's Administration and Achievements | Frank B. Lord and James William Bryan
  • By the latter system the ploughing is done in the off-year, and the land left a naked fallow.

    A Report on Washington Territory | William Henry Ruffner