verb
Etymology: Middle English putten of, from putten to put + of off
transitive verb
1. : disconcert , repel
don't be put off by the ghastly jacket — B.C.L.Keelan
in this way you may put off as many as you persuade — A.P.Herbert
2.
a. : delay , postpone
many girls tend to put off marriage until they are older — Robert Reid
somehow the time for departure must be put off — Lyle Saxon
b. : to get rid of for the time being or to induce to wait
put the bill collector off for another month
I'd forgotten it was that night … can't you put him off? — Nigel Balchin
c. : to turn the attention of from some design or purpose : dissuade , elude , frustrate
had put a robber off with a show of unconcern
was so importunate it was impossible to put him off
3.
a. : to take off : rid oneself of
put his coat off
you had your choosing, and it's time you'd put off your flightiness — Mary Deasy
b. : to dispose of
second litters can be put off in autumn as porkers — A.Longwill
c. : to sell or pass fraudulently
a moon-eyed roan that some slick trader had put off on him — F.B.Gipson
put off a counterfeit ten-dollar bill
4. : to push or send off (a boat) from land or another boat
the pinnace was put off from the yacht — William Black
let me cut the cable, and when we are put off, fall to their throats — Shakespeare
intransitive verb
: to leave land
the inhabitants then put off in boats and salvaged the cargo of the wrecked boat — American Guide Series: New Jersey