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 breach caused the company, Instructure, to temporarily take Canvas offline and interrupted classes, assignments and finals preparations for hundreds of thousands of students and professors as hackers threatened to release their personal data.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
Mega-brokerage Compass is taking more listings offline, sparking backlash from rivals who say the practice is upending decades of market transparency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Consumers have long complained about how much of a pain smart devices are to set up and later troubleshoot when they go offline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
New AI models should likely first be tested in offline "sandboxes", after other companies' models escaped the closed environments used to assess their capabilities, he added.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
But I am also a rover who does not want to go offline in a dust storm.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
