Synonyms

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.

See Examples For:

push off

Such a scenario could delay or even push off any Fed rate cuts this year.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 10, 2026

Uncertainty over tariffs led shipping companies, which had started to recover after struggling with an inventory glut and slowing consumer spending for years, to push off their forecasts for a recovery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025

All the aspects of it are so hard to execute - Berger was at full stretch, moving backwards and trying to push off.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2025

While he is hopeful of a quick return once his toe improves enough to properly push off the rubber, he acknowledged Monday that “there’s not that much time” for that process to play out.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2024

As we push off the dock, Lelia reminds me that whenever a boat departs the land a hundred hearts are broken.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

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