setoff

[ set-awf, -of ]
See synonyms for setoff on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. something that counterbalances or makes up for something else, as compensation for a loss.

  2. Accounting. a counterbalancing debt or claim, especially one that cancels an amount a debtor owes.

  1. Also called offset. Architecture.

    • a reduction in the thickness of a wall.

    • a flat or sloping projection on a wall, buttress, or the like, below a thinner part.

  2. something used to enhance the effect of another thing by contrasting it, as an ornament.

  3. Printing. offset (def. 7).

Origin of setoff

1
First recorded in 1615–25; noun use of verb phrase set off

Words Nearby setoff

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for set off (1 of 2)

set off

verb(adverb)
  1. (intr) to embark on a journey

  2. (tr) to cause (a person) to act or do something, such as laugh or tell stories

  1. (tr) to cause to explode

  2. (tr) to act as a foil or contrast to, esp so as to improve: that brooch sets your dress off well

  3. (tr) accounting to cancel a credit on (one account) against a debit on another, both of which are in the name of the same person, enterprise, etc

  4. (intr) to bring a claim by way of setoff

nounsetoff
  1. anything that serves as a counterbalance

  2. anything that serves to contrast with or enhance something else; foil

  1. another name for setback: See set back (def. 5)

  2. a counterbalancing debt or claim offered by a debtor against a creditor

  3. a cross claim brought by a debtor that partly offsets the creditor's claim: See also counterclaim

British Dictionary definitions for set-off (2 of 2)

set-off

noun
  1. printing a fault in which ink is transferred from a heavily inked or undried printed sheet to the sheet next to it in a pile: Also called (esp Brit): offset

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with setoff

setoff

Give rise to, cause to occur, as in The acid set off a chemical reaction. [Early 1600s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.