/ ˈɒfə(r); NAmE ˈɔːf-; ˈɑːf-/ verb , noun
■ verb
1.
offer sth (to sb) (for sth) | offer sb sth to say that you are willing to do sth for sb or give sth to sb :
[ vn ]
He offered $4 000 for the car.
Josie had offered her services as a guide
He offered some useful advice.
[ vn , vnn ]
They decided to offer the job to Jo.
They decided to offer Jo the job.
[ vnn ]
I gratefully took the cup of coffee she offered me.
Taylor offered him 500 dollars to do the work.
[ v to inf ]
The kids offered to do the dishes.
[ v speech ]
'I'll do it,' she offered.
2.
[ vn ] to make sth available or to provide the opportunity for sth :
The hotel offers excellent facilities for families.
The job didn't offer any prospects for promotion.
He did not offer any explanation for his behaviour.
3.
[ vn ] offer sth/sb (up) (to sb) ( formal ) to give sth to God :
We offered up our prayers for the men's safe return.
•
IDIOMS
- have sth to offer
- offer your hand
■ noun
1.
offer (of sth / to do sth) an act of saying that you are willing to do sth for sb or give sth to sb :
Thank you for your kind offer of help.
I accepted her offer to pay.
to accept / refuse / decline an offer
I took him up on his offer of a loan.
You can't just turn down offers of work like that.
an offer of marriage
2.
offer (for sth) an amount of money that sb is willing to pay for sth :
I've had an offer of $2 500 for the car.
They've decided to accept our original offer.
The offer has been withdrawn.
They made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
The original price was £3 000, but I'm open to offers (= willing to consider offers that are less than that) .
—see also o.n.o.
3.
a reduction in the normal price of sth, usually for a short period of time :
This special offer is valid until the end of the month.
See next week's issue for details of more free offers .
They have an offer on beer at the moment.
•
IDIOMS
- on offer
- under offer
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English offrian sacrifice something to a deity , of Germanic origin, from Latin offerre bestow, present (in ecclesiastical Latin offer to God), reinforced by French offrir (which continued to express the primary sense). The noun ( late Middle English ) is from French offre .