The Collaborative International Dictionary
Offense \Of*fense"\, Offence \Of*fence"\, n. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
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The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury.
Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.
--Rom. iv. 25.I have given my opinion against the authority of two great men, but I hope without offense to their memories.
--Dryden. -
The state of being offended or displeased; anger; displeasure; as, to cause offense.
He was content to give them just cause of offense, when they had power to make just revenge.
--Sir P. Sidney. -
A cause or occasion of stumbling or of sin. [Obs.]
Woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!
--Matt. xviii. 7. In any contest, the act or process of attacking as contrasted with the act of defending; the offensive; as, to go on the offense.
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(Sports) The members of a team who have the primary responsibility to score goals, in contrast to those who have the responsibility to defend, i.e. to prevent the opposing team from scoring goal.
Note: This word, like expense, is often spelled with a c. It ought, however, to undergo the same change with expense, the reasons being the same, namely, that s must be used in offensive as in expensive, and is found in the Latin offensio, and the French offense.
To take offense, to feel, or assume to be, injured or affronted; to become angry or hostile.
Weapons of offense, those which are used in attack, in distinction from those of defense, which are used to repel.
Syn: Displeasure; umbrage; resentment; misdeed; misdemeanor; trespass; transgression; delinquency; fault; sin; crime; affront; indignity; outrage; insult.
Usage examples of "weapons of offense".
Neither party had firearms, and the contest was to be decided in the deadliest manner, hand to hand, with weapons of offense, and none of defense.
A light spear and a long knife were her weapons of offense or defense.
Its claws were frightful weapons of offense, being of such proportions as to easily grasp and crush a large bull.
His teeth, while strong and sharp, were, as weapons of offense, pitifully inadequate by comparison with the mighty fighting fangs of the anthropoids.
Although physically puny, they had been able to evolve weapons of offense and defense—.