Offence

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Offence \Of*fence"\, n.
     See {Offense}.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Offense \Of*fense"\, Offence \Of*fence"\, n. [F., fr. L.
     offensa. See {Offend}.]
     1. The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin,
        an affront or an injury.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised
              again for our justification.          --Rom. iv. 25.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I have given my opinion against the authority of two
              great men, but I hope without offense to their
              memories.                             --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The state of being offended or displeased; anger;
        displeasure; as, to cause offense.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He was content to give them just cause of offense,
              when they had power to make just revenge. --Sir P.
                                                    Sidney.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A cause or occasion of stumbling or of sin. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Woe to that man by whom the offense cometh! --Matt.
                                                    xviii. 7.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. In any contest, the act or process of attacking as
        contrasted with the act of defending; the offensive; as,
        to go on the offense.
        [PJC]
  
     5. (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.
        [PJC]
  
     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.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Displeasure; umbrage; resentment; misdeed; misdemeanor;
          trespass; transgression; delinquency; fault; sin; crime;
          affront; indignity; outrage; insult.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  offence
       n 1: the action of attacking an enemy [syn: {offense}, {offensive}]
       2: the team that has the ball (or puck) and is trying to score
          [syn: {offense}] [ant: {defense}, {defense}]
       3: a feeling of anger caused by being offended; "he took
          offence at my question" [syn: {umbrage}, {offense}]
       4: a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others;
          wounding the feelings or others [syn: {discourtesy}, {offense},
           {offensive activity}]
       5: a crime less serious than a felony [syn: {misdemeanor}, {misdemeanour},
           {infraction}, {offense}, {violation}, {infringement}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  28 Moby Thesaurus words for "offence":
     breach, crime, dereliction, error, fault, felony, harm, hurt,
     infraction, infringement, injure, insult, lapse, malefaction,
     misdeed, misdemeanor, offend, outrage, peccadillo, sin, slight,
     slip, take umbrage, transgression, trespass, violation, wrong,
     wrongdoing
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Offence
     (1.) An injury or wrong done to one (1 Sam. 25:31; Rom. 5:15).
     
       (2.) A stumbling-block or cause of temptation (Isa. 8:14;
     Matt. 16:23; 18:7). Greek skandalon, properly that at which one
     stumbles or takes offence. The "offence of the cross" (Gal.
     5:11) is the offence the Jews took at the teaching that
     salvation was by the crucified One, and by him alone. Salvation
     by the cross was a stumbling-block to their national pride.
     

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  OFFENCE, crimes. The doing that which a penal law forbids to be done, or 
  omitting to do what it commands; in this sense it is nearly synonymous with 
  crime. (q.v.) In a more confined sense, it may be considered as having the 
  same meaning with misdemeanor, (q.v.) but it differs from it in this, that 
  it is not indictable, but punishable summarily by the forfeiture of a 
  penalty. 1 Chit. Prac. 14.