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Synonyms

give off

British  

verb

  1. (tr, adverb) to emit or discharge

    the mothballs gave off an acrid odour

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

give off Idioms  
  1. Send out, emit, as in Certain chemical changes give off energy, or This mixture gives off a very strange odor. [Early 1800s]


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.

See Examples For:

Dark matter exerts gravity but does not give off light, while dark energy is associated with the accelerating expansion of the universe.

From Science Daily Aug. 28, 2026

He feels fortunate that she “had been a good woman, so her body remained intact and she did not give off a smell of decay.”

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 30, 2026

The scientists believe that the nodules give off enough electric charge to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen, a process known as electrolysis.

From Barron's Jan. 20, 2026

During an open training session on 5 August, Grealish was fully engaged in the tactical sequences and did not give off any vibes of a player that wanted to leave.

From BBC Aug. 11, 2025

Not only did it give off a strange light, this table made an eerie wailing sound, like no human ever made.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

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