Wounding the feelings or others

Usage examples of offence.

In his pastoral letter to his clergy urging them to take the oath of allegiance, Burnet grounded the claim of William and Mary on the right of conquest, a view which gave such offence that the pamphlet was burnt by the common hangman three years later.

The cruelties that accompany research will always accompany it, until all scientific experimentation upon animals is made a criminal offence.

In other words, every conceivable phase of scientific experimentation upon living creatures, even if absolutely painless, should be made a legal offence.

At the bar and in the senate of Rome the ablest orators were not apprehensive of giving offence to their hearers, by exposing that doctrine as an idle and extravagant opinion, which was rejected with contempt by every man of a liberal education and understanding.

In this morality female adultery is malversation by the woman and theft by the man, whilst male adultery with an unmarried woman is not an offence at all.

Therefore in his preaching, if the word used for the lofty, simple utterance of divine messengers, may without offence be misapplied to his paltry memorizations, his main thought was always whether the said lady was justly appreciating the eloquence and wisdom with which he meant to impress her--while in fact he remained incapable of understanding how deep her natural insight penetrated both him and his pretensions.

There were the Misses Twitchwell, one blonde, one redhead, who refused to take offence at his never being able to tell them apart.

For this offence the unfortunate husband was flung from the top of the campanile in Siena, during the Palio, by members of the family.

Each of them therefore now endeavoured, as much as he could, to palliate the offence which his own child had committed, and to aggravate the match of the other.

I was not less inured than the others to the war of offence and defence, but at last there was such a bitter joke played upon me that it suggested to me another, the fatal consequences of which put a stop to the mania by which we were all possessed.

Master Prout felt friendly to the publican, as was evident, there were some things he would not overlook, and no offence could be committed more heinous than disregarding his orders.

Damerel, quizzing him, but with such an understanding smile in his eves that Aubrey forbore to take offence.

Usually a comment like that would have been a shootable offence, but Spiro was in a good mood.

Finally, the injustice of the dogma of everlasting punishment is most emphatically shown by the fact that there is no sort of correspondence or possible proportion between the offence and the penalty, between the moment of sinning life and the eternity of suffering death.

Humbled by a public confession, emaciated by fasting and clothed in sackcloth, the penitent lay prostrate at the door of the assembly, imploring with tears the pardon of his offences, and soliciting the prayers of the faithful.