of ‧ fence S3 W2 BrE AmE British English , offense American English /əˈfens/ noun
[ Word Family: noun : OFFENSE/OFFENSE , ↑ offender , ↑ offensive , ↑ offensiveness ; adjective : ↑ offensive ≠ ↑ inoffensive , ↑ offended , ↑ offending ; verb : ↑ offend ; adverb : ↑ offensively ]
1 . [countable] an illegal action or a crime:
His solicitor said he committed the offence because he was heavily in debt.
offence against
sexual offences against children
2 . [uncountable] when you offend or upset someone by something you do or say
cause/give offence
The problem was how to say ‘no’ to her without causing offence.
Don’t be upset by what he said; he meant no offence (=did not intend to offend anyone) .
3 . no offence spoken used to tell someone that you hope that what you are going to say or do will not offend them:
No offense, but this cheese tastes like rubber.
4 . take offence (at something) to feel offended because of something someone says or does:
I think he took offence at my lack of enthusiasm.
5 . [uncountable] formal the act of attacking:
the weapon of offence used during the attack
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ commit an offence (=do something that is against the law)
He had committed the offence of dangerous driving.
▪ charge somebody with an offence
In that year, 367 people were charged with terrorist offences.
▪ convict somebody of an offence (=say officially that they are guilty)
The number of women convicted of serious offences is fairly small.
▪ admit an offence
He had admitted sex offences against children.
■ phrases
▪ it is an offence to do something
It is an offence to carry a weapon in a public place.
▪ an offence punishable by/with something
Possession of the drug is an offence punishable by up to one year’s imprisonment.
▪ make something an offence/make it an offence to do something
The Act made it an offence to sell cigarettes to children under 16.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + offence
▪ a criminal offence
It is a criminal offence to sell alcohol to someone under the age of 18.
▪ a serious offence
serious offences such as murder or armed robbery
▪ a minor offence
The police cautioned him for a minor offence.
▪ a first offence
Because it was a first offence, she was not sent to prison.
▪ a lesser offence (=one that is not as serious as another offence)
For rioting you can receive ten years in prison, while for the lesser offence of violent disorder you can receive five years in prison.
▪ a federal offense American English (=a very serious offence against the law of the US, rather than against a state’s law)
The turtles are rare, and it is a federal offense to take them to another state.
▪ a driving/parking/traffic offence
Speeding is the most common traffic offence.
▪ a sex/drug/terrorist etc offence
Thirty-three people were charged with drug offences.
▪ a punishable offence (=one that you can be punished for)
Lying in court is a punishable offense.
▪ a capital offence (=one for which death is the punishment)
Drug smuggling was made a capital offense in 1987.
▪ an arrestable/indictable offence (=one that you can be arrested for or must go to court for)
Indictable offences are tried by a jury in a Crown Court.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ illegal actions
▪ crime noun [uncountable and countable] an illegal action or activity, or these actions in general:
The police need the public’s help to solve crimes.
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Crime is on the increase.
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It was a horrific crime.
▪ offence British English , offense American English noun [countable] a crime, especially one that has a particular description and name in law:
It is an offence to drive while using a mobile phone.
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a minor offence (=one that is not serious)
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a serious offence
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a parking offence
▪ misdemeanor noun [countable] American English law a crime that is not very serious:
They pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and were fined.
▪ felony noun [uncountable and countable] especially American English law a serious crime:
Fewer than 25 percent of the people arrested on felony charges are convicted.
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He committed a series of violent felonies.