push off

British

verb

Also: push out. to move into open water, as by being cast off from a mooring
informal (intr) to go away; leave

"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

push off Idioms

Also, shove off. Leave, set out, depart, as in The patrol pushed off before dawn, or It's time to shove off. This usage alludes to the literal meaning of a person in a boat pushing against the bank or dock to move away from the shore. [Colloquial; early 1900s]

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.

But when he went out to warm up for the final Sunday and tried to push off on his right foot, he screamed in shocked pain.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2022

On drives, he could not push off on his right leg the way he needs.

From New York Times • Dec. 19, 2021

She lands on her left leg when she serves, and she could be seen wincing when she had to push off on that leg or land on it.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 7, 2021

“I realized he was struggling a little bit” to push off on his forehand side, Wawrinka said.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 25, 2020

At length the boats were seen to push off on their way back to their respective ships; and, a few minutes later, Captain Pigot passed up the gangway and came in on deck.

From The Rover's Secret A Tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons of Cuba by Symons, W. Christian

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023