work off

British  

verb

1. to get rid of or dissipate, as by effort

   he worked off some of his energy by digging the garden

2. to discharge (a debt) by labour rather than payment

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work off Idioms  

1. Get rid of by work or effort, as in They worked off that big dinner by running on the beach, or It'll take him months to work off that debt. [Second half of 1600s]

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Example Sentences

But changes to home and auto insurance policies can take months to be approved, and regulators typically work off historic data, so profits can take a long time to filter through to prices.

From The Wall Street Journal

While it doesn’t necessarily mean the stock is in trouble, since this technical condition can last for awhile and be worked off without a selloff, it does suggest caution.

From MarketWatch

Rather than working off a percentage of gross salary, I’ve been using our take-home pay as a baseline, since that reflects what we actually spend now.

From MarketWatch

He thinks this is partly because AI took so much scut work off people’s plates that their days became consumed by high-level thinking—and they were burning out.

From The Wall Street Journal

King's pioneering work off the court paid off: women now receive equal prize money to the men at each of the four majors.

From Barron's