make off
Britishverb
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(intr, adverb) to go or run away in haste
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to steal or abduct
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Depart in haste, run away, as in The cat took one look at Richard and made off . [c. 1700]
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make off with . Take something away; also, steal something, as in I can't write it down; Tom made off with my pen , or The burglars made off with the stereo and computer as well as jewelry . [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.
"It's not something you think: 'How much money can you make off it?'."
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
In 2017, a van transporting an exam paper in the eastern Indian state of Bihar was intercepted by scammers, who attempted to make off with the papers but were foiled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
I’m just so sad the money people make off causing us to fight more than love more.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
It's not just wild elephants they are worried about but animals like wild boars, tigers, bison and monkeys that make off with their cattle and eat their crops.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2024
“Who’s alive, who died since I been gone? How much money did the Zopilote make off my brothers and sisters since 1 went away?”
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
