The Collaborative International Dictionary
Office \Of"fice\, n. [F., fr. L. officium, for opificium; ops ability, wealth, help + facere to do or make. See Opulent, Fact.]
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That which a person does, either voluntarily or by appointment, for, or with reference to, others; customary duty, or a duty that arises from the relations of man to man; as, kind offices, pious offices.
I would I could do a good office between you.
--Shak. A special duty, trust, charge, or position, conferred by authority and for a public purpose; a position of trust or authority; as, an executive or judical office; a municipal office.
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A charge or trust, of a sacred nature, conferred by God himself; as, the office of a priest under the old dispensation, and that of the apostles in the new.
Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.
--Rom. xi. 13. -
That which is performed, intended, or assigned to be done, by a particular thing, or that which anything is fitted to perform; a function; -- answering to duty in intelligent beings.
They [the eyes] resign their office and their light.
--Shak.Hesperus, whose office is to bring Twilight upon the earth.
--Milton.In this experiment the several intervals of the teeth of the comb do the office of so many prisms.
--Sir I. Newton. The place where any kind of business or service for others is transacted; a building, suite of rooms, or room in which public officers or workers in any organization transact business; as, the register's office; a lawyer's office; the doctor's office; the Mayor's office.
The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose place of business is in an office; as, I have notified the office.
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pl. The apartments or outhouses in which the domestics discharge the duties attached to the service of a house, as kitchens, pantries, stables, etc. [Eng.]
As for the offices, let them stand at distance.
--Bacon. -
(Eccl.) Any service other than that of ordination and the Mass; any prescribed religious service.
This morning was read in the church, after the office was done, the declaration setting forth the late conspiracy against the king's person.
--Evelyn.Holy office. Same as Inquisition, n., 3.
Houses of office. Same as def. 7 above.
--Chaucer.Little office (R. C. Ch.), an office recited in honor of the Virgin Mary.
Office bearer, an officer; one who has a specific office or duty to perform.
Office copy (Law), an authenticated or certified copy of a record, from the proper office. See Certified copies, under Copy.
--Abbott.Office-found (Law), the finding of an inquest of office. See under Inquest.
Office holder. See Officeholder in the Vocabulary
Office hours. the hours of the day during which business is transacted at an office[5].
Office seeker. a person who is attempting to get elected to an elected office, or to get an appointment to an appointive public office.
Usage examples of "little office".
We sat in Mann's little office - originally intended for the duty nurse - and heard Andrei Bekuv walk down the corridor, calling his wife's name.
I walked with him along to his little office, followed him in and shut the door.
This shabby little office, she waved a black gloved hand at it, and the shabby little life that goes on herethey ought to tell me what sort of idiot you are.
I'll just go into a little office with one of them and we'll close the door.
A man makes a phone call, no details, and an hour later shows up at the little office in a new Jaguar convertible.
While the others stood grouped about that still figure on the floor, Sergeant Burton entered the little office.
In the warm little office the air became suddenly heavy and the strength went out of her body.
Every night the two of them met in their little office suite, and put in their call to Nirgal and the rest.
Melchior's chauffeured car had picked him up at his stuffy little office, crowded with papers.
Looking around the little office, Sisko was all too aware of the missing faces, of the empty space where Kira usually sat, of Carter's thin face replacing O'Brien's.
I walked out of the little office and over to the Coke machine, which stood near the IN door to the coffee shop.
His heartbeat accelerated as he paused to get his bearings, his eye searching for the little office that Platinov had described.