off year
- a year without a major, especially presidential, election.
- a year marked by reduced or inferior production or activity in a particular field, as farming, business, or sports: With its wet, cold summer, this was an off year for grapes.
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Origin of off year
First recorded in 1870–75
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for off year
Contemporary Examples
The off-year special election into which Duke threw himself drew little media notice at first.
So far, Ready for Hillary's foray into off-year elections is mixed.
But, in an off-year special election those patterns might not hold.
Canter acknowledges that the Democrats talk about “field” in every off-year election.
Instead, the off-year had elections of less political significance but scandals that were a lot more fun.
Historical Examples
By the latter system the ploughing is done in the off-year, and the land left a naked fallow.
A Report on Washington TerritoryWilliam Henry Ruffner
Every President in the off-year election urges the election of a Congress of his own party.
Woodrow Wilson's Administration and AchievementsFrank B. Lord and James William Bryan
At the present time the Red Astrachans are ripe and the two off-year branches are fairly well loaded with magnificent apples.
In Pastures GreenPeter McArthur