offline
Americanadjective
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Computers. operating independently of, or disconnected from, an associated computer.
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Radio. (of a network) not supplying affiliated stations with programming but allowing each station to program its own shows, usually within a specific format.
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Television. of or relating to the preliminary planning and editing of a videotaped program.
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located in or serving a place not on a regular route of a railroad, bus, or air carrier.
an offline ticket office.
adverb
adjective
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of, relating to, or concerned with a part of a computer system not connected to the central processing unit but controlled by a computer storage device See online
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disconnected from a computer; switched off
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extra to or not involving a continuous sequence of operations, such as a production line
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radio television (of processes, such as editing) not carried out on the actual transmission medium
adverb
Etymology
Origin of offline
First recorded in 1925–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The company’s operating profit likely came in below market consensus, partly dragged down by elevated costs for infrastructure and offline business expansion, the analyst writes in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Every bit helps, but here’s not a lot of spare refining capacity with refineries in Russia and in the Middle East offline.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
It also wants the services to work offline and accessible even without mobile data or a Wi-Fi connection.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
When it came time to take an offline test, the students who used the general platform, which was capable of giving them the answers in practice, scored 17% lower than those with no AI.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
My AIM account logged in automatically, and my short list of buddies were all offline.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
