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.
So far in July, more than half of Russian refining capacity has been knocked offline by the attacks, according to estimates from IIR Energy, a Texas-based energy-market data and intelligence firm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Many are still posting about it, and even raising awareness offline.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
That has taken more than a third of Russian’s refining capacity offline, and Russian diesel exports fell to around half the level at the same time last year, Gilks said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
And just as democratizing access to the internet was a policy concern in the 2000s, ensuring that people can easily get offline is becoming a focus of this era.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
The temperature is so low that I think I will most certainly go offline, but amazingly, I do not.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
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.
