Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
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.

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

“I don’t want to give off the idea that me calling the album ‘Deadbeat’ is heavily connected to me becoming a parent.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025

They’re being raised and studied on Neverland Research Island, a name that doesn’t give off creepy Dr. Moreau vibes at all.

From Salon • Jul. 17, 2025

I want to give off an everything’s fine kind of vibe.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

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.