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definitions

walk-off

[wawk-awf, -of]
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noun Informal.

a person who escapes easily, especially by walking away from a place of detention; a walkaway: The guards rounded up the walk-offs from the prison farm.

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Nearby words

  1. walk-down,
  2. walk-in,
  3. walk-in apartment,
  4. walk-in closet,
  5. walk-in refrigerator,
  6. walk-on,
  7. walk-out,
  8. walk-over,
  9. walk-through,
  10. walk-through angina

Origin of walk-off

First recorded in 1935–40; noun use of verb phrase walk off

walk

[wawk]

verb (used without object)

to advance or travel on foot at a moderate speed or pace; proceed by steps; move by advancing the feet alternately so that there is always one foot on the ground in bipedal locomotion and two or more feet on the ground in quadrupedal locomotion.
to move about or travel on foot for exercise or pleasure: We can walk in the park after lunch.
(of things) to move in a manner suggestive of walking, as through repeated vibrations or the effect of alternate expansion and contraction: He typed so hard that the lamp walked right off the desk.
Baseball. to receive a base on balls.
Slang.
  1. to go on strike; stage a walkout: The miners will walk unless they get a pay raise.
  2. to be acquitted or to be released or fined rather than sentenced to jail: If the prosecutor doesn't present his case well, the murderer may walk.
to go about on the earth, or appear to living persons, as a ghost: to believe that spirits walk at night.
(of a tool, pointer, or pen of a recording device, etc.) to glide, slip, or move from a straight course, fixed position, or the like: A regular drill bit may walk on a plastic surface when you first try to make a hole. When the earthquake started, the pen on the seismograph walked all over the paper.
to conduct oneself in a particular manner; pursue a particular course of life: to walk humbly with thy God.
Basketball. (of a player in possession of the ball) to take more than two steps without dribbling or passing the ball.
Obsolete. to be in motion or action.

verb (used with object)

to proceed through, over, or upon at a moderate pace on foot: walking London streets by night; walking the floor all night.
to cause to walk; lead, drive, or ride at a walk, as an animal: We walked our horses the last quarter of a mile.
to force or help to walk, as a person: They were walking him around the room soon after his operation.
to conduct or accompany on a walk: He walked them about the park.
to move (a box, trunk, or other object) in a manner suggestive of walking, as by a rocking motion.
Baseball. (of a pitcher) to give a base on balls to (a batter).
to spend or pass (time) in walking (often followed by away): We walked the morning away along the beach.
to cause or accomplish by walking: We saw them walking guard over the chain gang.
to examine, measure, etc., by traversing on foot: to walk a track; to walk the boundaries of the property.
Basketball. to advance (the ball) by taking more than two steps without dribbling or passing.
Informal. to send (a person who has a reservation at a hotel) to another hotel because of overbooking: It's exasperating to find yourself walked when you arrive at a hotel late in the evening.

noun

an act or instance of walking or going on foot.
a period of walking for exercise or pleasure: to go for a walk.
a distance walked or to be walked, often in terms of the time required: not more than ten minutes' walk from town.
the gait or pace of a person or an animal that walks.
a characteristic or individual manner of walking: It was impossible to mistake her walk.
a department or branch of activity, or a particular line of work: They found every walk of life closed against them.
Baseball. base on balls.
a path or way for pedestrians at the side of a street or road; sidewalk.
a place prepared or set apart for walking.
a path in a garden or the like.
a passage between rows of trees.
an enclosed yard, pen, or the like where domestic animals are fed and left to exercise.
the walk. race walking.
a sheepwalk.
a ropewalk.
(in the West Indies) a plantation of trees, especially coffee trees.
a group, company, or congregation, especially of snipes.
British.
  1. the route of a street vendor, tradesman, or the like.
  2. the district or area in which such a route is located.
  3. a tract of forest land under the charge of one forester or keeper.
Archaic. manner of behavior; conduct; course of life.
Obsolete. a haunt or resort.

Verb Phrases

walk off, to get rid of by walking: to walk off a headache.
walk off with,
  1. to remove illegally; steal.
  2. to win or attain, as in a competition: to walk off with the first prize for flower arrangements.
  3. to surpass one's competitors; win easily: to walk off with the fight.
walk out,
  1. to go on strike.
  2. to leave in protest: to walk out of a committee meeting.
walk out on, to leave unceremoniously; desert; forsake: to walk out on one's family.
walk out with, British. to court or be courted by: Cook is walking out with the chauffeur.
walk through, Theater, Television.
  1. to release (a play) by combining a reading aloud of the lines with the designated physical movements.
  2. Informal.to perform (a role, play, etc.) in a perfunctory manner.
  3. to make little or no effort in performing one's role: He didn't like the script and walked through his part.
walk up, (of a hunter) to flush (game) by approaching noisily on foot and often with hunting dogs.

Origin of walk

before 1000; (v.) Middle English walken, Old English wealcan to roll, toss, gewealcan to go; cognate with Dutch, German walken to full (cloth), Old Norse vālka to toss; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v.
Related formsun·walked, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for walk off

walk off

verb

(intr) to depart suddenly
(tr, adverb) to get rid of by walkingto walk off an attack of depression
walk a person off his feet to make someone walk so fast or far that he or she is exhausted
walk off with
  1. to steal
  2. to win, esp easily

walk

verb

(intr) to move along or travel on foot at a moderate rate; advance in such a manner that at least one foot is always on the ground
(tr) to pass through, on, or over on foot, esp habitually
(tr) to cause, assist, or force to move along at a moderate rateto walk a dog
(tr) to escort or conduct by walkingto walk someone home
(intr) (of ghosts, spirits, etc) to appear or move about in visible form
(of inanimate objects) to move or cause to move in a manner that resembles walking
(intr) to follow a certain course or way of lifeto walk in misery
(tr) to bring into a certain condition by walkingI walked my shoes to shreds
(tr) to measure, survey, or examine by walking
(tr) baseball to allow a batter to go to first base without batting by throwing four balls outside of the strike zone
Also: travel (intr) basketball to take more than two steps without passing or dribbling the ball
to disappear or be stolenwhere's my pencil? It seems to have walked
(intr) slang, mainly US (in a court of law) to be acquitted or given a noncustodial sentence
walk it to win easily
walk the plank See plank 1 (def. 4)
walk on air to be delighted or exhilarated
walk tall informal to have self-respect or pride
walk the streets
  1. to be a prostitute
  2. to wander round a town or city, esp when looking for work or having nowhere to stay
walk the walk or walk the talk informal to put theory into practiceyou can talk the talk but can you walk the walk? See also talk (def. 15)

noun

the act or an instance of walking
the distance or extent walked
a manner of walking; gait
a place set aside for walking; promenade
a chosen profession or sphere of activity (esp in the phrase walk of life)
a foot race in which competitors walk
  1. an arrangement of trees or shrubs in widely separated rows
  2. the space between such rows
an enclosed ground for the exercise or feeding of domestic animals, esp horses
mainly British the route covered in the course of work, as by a tradesman or postman
a procession; marchOrange walk
obsolete the section of a forest controlled by a keeper
See also walk away, walk into, walk off, walk out, walkover, walk through
Derived Formswalkable, adjective

Word Origin for walk

Old English wealcan; related to Old High German walchan, Sanskrit valgati he moves
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
Word Origin and History for walk off
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for walk off

walk

[wôk]

v.

To move over a surface by taking steps with the feet at a pace slower than a run.

n.

The gait of a human in which the feet are lifted alternately with one part of a foot always on the ground.
The characteristic way in which one walks.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Idioms and Phrases with walk off

walk

In addition to the idioms beginning with walk

  • walk all over
  • walk a tightrope
  • walk away from
  • walk away with
  • walking encyclopedia
  • walking papers
  • walk off with
  • walk of life
  • walk on air
  • walk on eggs
  • walk out
  • walk over
  • walk tall
  • walk the floor
  • walk the plank
  • walk through

also see:

  • cock of the walk
  • hands down (in a walk)
  • worship the ground someone walks on
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.