Word.ws English Dictionary

off and running

off and running adjective: launched or launching vigorously into a course of action.

Adjective

off and running (not comparable)

  1. (idiomatic) Launched or launching vigorously into a course of action.
    • But both newspapers made the same point. . . . And so the story was off and running.2000 July 24, Felicity Barringer, “Running on Adrenaline And Ideology at The Post”, in New York Times, retrieved 16 Apr 2015
    • The train won't budge, but the film that this scene opens, the Kafkaesque Romanian comedy "California Dreamin'," is off and running.2007 October 27, Jessica Au, “When Movies Follow The Storm”, in Newsweek, retrieved 16 Apr 2015

Origin of off and running

An allusion to the beginning of a footrace or horse race, when competitors rush forth out of the starting blocks or gate.

Questions about off and running

What does off and running mean?
Off and running means launched or launching vigorously into a course of action.
What part of speech is off and running?
Off and running is an adjective.

Words near off and running in the dictionary

  1. ofers
  2. OFEX
  3. off
  4. off air
  5. off and on
  6. off and running
  7. off angle
  8. off angled
  9. off angles
  10. off angling
  11. off at the races

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: off and running (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-off and running.ogg.

Cite this entry: “off and running.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/off_and_running. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.