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off the air

Idioms  

  1. Not being broadcast, as in Once they knew they were off the air, the panelists burst out laughing. This idiom, along with the antonym on the air (“being broadcast”), dates from the 1920s, air being considered a medium for radio-wave transmission.

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.

Jackson: And we’ve never been off the air.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

After going off the air, the show was later revived and returned to TV in 2015.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

The show was later restored after a week off the air.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 19, 2026

Anatel said Rumble should again be off the air in a few days.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

When all the other recruits had had their long hair shorn off, the air group’s Communist Party secretary, Klavdiya Terekhova, anxiously had to report Lilya’s disobedience to Marina Raskova.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

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.