(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
Note: The spelling 'offense' is used in American English.
1.
An ~ is a crime that breaks a particular law and requires a particular punishment.
Thirteen people have been charged with treason–an ~ which can carry the death penalty...
In Britain the Consumer Protection Act makes it a criminal ~ to sell goods that are unsafe.
N-COUNT
2.
Offence or an ~ is behaviour which causes people to be upset or embarrassed.
The book might be published without creating offense...
Privilege determined by birth is an ~ to any modern sense of justice.
N-VAR
3.
Some people say ‘no ~’ to make it clear that they do not want to upset you, although what they are saying may seem rather rude.
Dad, you need a bath. No ~.
CONVENTION formulae
4.
If someone takes ~ at something you say or do, they feel upset, often unnecessarily, because they think you are being rude to them.
She never takes ~ at anything...
Never had she seen him so tense, so quick to take ~ as he had been in recent weeks.
PHRASE: V inflects