offshore

[awf-shawr, -shohr, of-]

adverb

1. off or away from the shore;

   They pushed the boat offshore.

2. at a distance from the shore, on a body of water.

   looking for oil offshore.

3. in a foreign country.

adjective

1. moving or tending away from the shore toward or into a body of water.

   an offshore wind.

2. located or operating on a body of water, at some distance from the shore.

   offshore fisheries.

3. registered, located, conducted, or operated in a foreign country.

   an offshore investment company; offshore manufacture of car parts.

verb (used with or without object)

1. (of a company or organization) to move jobs or business activities from the home territory to a foreign country: At this time, the manufacturing division has no plans to offshore.

   When our IT services were offshored to Malaysia, I lost my job.

   At this time, the manufacturing division has no plans to offshore.

offshore

/ ˌɒfˈʃɔː /

adjective

1. from, away from, or at some distance from the shore

2. overseas; abroad

adjective

1. sited or conducted at sea as opposed to on land

   offshore industries

2. based or operating abroad in places where the tax system is more advantageous than that of the home country

   offshore banking

   offshore fund

offshore

1. The relatively flat, irregularly shaped zone that extends outward from the breaker zone to the edge of the continental shelf. The water depth in this area is usually at least 10 m (33 ft). The offshore is continually submerged.

Other Word Forms

• offshoring noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of offshore¹

First recorded in 1710–20; off + shore ¹

Example Sentences

They are two of the West Coast’s most destructive generators of huge earthquakes: the San Andreas fault in California and the Cascadia subduction zone offshore of California’s North Coast, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Ferries and trains have been cancelled and bridges shut, and a ferry sailing from Dublin to Holyhead has spent hours circling offshore as it is unable to berth.

Read more on BBC

California and other states on Vought’s list have been working to advance clean energy projects such as solar power and offshore wind.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Duties such as economic analyses, permitting for energy projects such as offshore wind and National Environmental Policy Act reviews were among those to suffer, she said, and could be hit even harder this time around.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Switching to a floating vessel to treat and transport the oil produced offshore would push back a potential start for oil sales by at least a year, to the end of 2026, the company estimated.

Read more on Los Angeles Times