in the offing
in the offing prepositional phrase: within the area of the sea known as the offing; at a considerable distance from land, but visible from shore, often in reference to an approaching ship.
Prepositional phrase
- Within the area of the sea known as the offing; at a considerable distance from land, but visible from shore, often in reference to an approaching ship.
- They could see that the ship was waiting in the offing.
- There were several small islands in the offing.
- Soon to come; likely to happen; in the foreseeable future; projected to occur; on the horizon; in the wind.
- We have known wives to forget that they had husbands,[…] especially when they supposed that a tax bill or a notification to do military duty might be in the offing!1850, Sylvester Breakmore Beckett, The Portland Reference Book and City Directory
- The Ship of the Spring in the offing at last! / Oh, rude blew the hindering gales, / But perfumes entrancing, the danger o'erpast, / Are wafted afar, from her sails!1917 May, Florence Van Leer Earle Coates, “In the Offing”, in The Minaret
- Synonyms:
- imminent
- At a distance, but visible.
- The moment I saw the man standing there, registering respectful attention, a weight seemed to roll off my mind. I felt like a lost child who spots his father in the offing. There was something about him that gave me confidence.1919, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Leave it to Jeeves”, in My Man Jeeves, London: George Newnes
in the offing meaning in Kannada
in the offing in Kannada
- ಸದ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯಲಿರುವುದು, ಸ್ವಲ್ಪಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯಲಿರುವುದು
Examples of in the offing in a sentence
- I seed her reported in the offing this morning; a three years' voyage, and a full ship.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London...
- If the ship that bore the sacred flame arrived too soon, it might not put in to shore, but had to cruise in the offing till the nine days were expired.1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 3, page 252:
- He has a happy home life, two sitcoms on the go and a new book in the offing.2019 November 3, Andrew Anthony, “David Mitchell: ‘I have no reason to have these apocalyptic musings’”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
- The serious end of tech has never made the dash from northern to southern California that is forever in the offing.2025 June 21, Janan Ganesh, “How Los Angeles made the modern world”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd....
Synonyms of in the offing
Questions about in the offing
- What does in the offing mean?
- In the offing means within the area of the sea known as the offing; at a considerable distance from land, but visible from shore, often in reference to an approaching ship.
- What is in the offing in Kannada?
- In the offing in Kannada is ಸದ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯಲಿರುವುದು, ಸ್ವಲ್ಪಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯಲಿರುವುದು. See In the offing meaning in Kannada.
- How do you use in the offing in a sentence?
- I seed her reported in the offing this morning; a three years' voyage, and a full ship.
- What part of speech is in the offing?
- In the offing is a prepositional phrase.
Words near in the offing in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: in the offing (page history and authors); in the offing (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-in the offing.ogg.
Cite this entry: “in the offing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_the_offing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.