Word.ws English Dictionary

read off

read off verb: to dictate from a list, especially in a way focused on sequential processing.

Verb

read off (third-person singular simple present reads off, present participle reading off, simple past and past participle read off)

  1. (transitive) To dictate from a list, especially in a way focused on sequential processing.
    • When your name has been read off, come to collect your paper.
  2. (transitive) To read from a scale or measure.
  3. (US, slang, transitive) To scold or reprimand.
    • He also knows that he has a tendency towards being overweight and watches his diet carefully, and he can tell you everything there is to know about every man in his platoon. Yet, more than once, I've read him off for being partial to a couple of obvious earbangers, and the simplest problem can make...1981, The Marine Corps Gazette

Forms of read off

third-person singular presentreads off
present participlereading off
past participleread off
pastread off

Questions about read off

What does read off mean?
Read off means to dictate from a list, especially in a way focused on sequential processing.
What part of speech is read off?
Read off is a verb.
What is the past tense of read off?
The past tense of read off is read off.

Words near read off in the dictionary

  1. read lips
  2. read me
  3. read mes
  4. read minds
  5. read my lips
  6. read off
  7. read oneself in
  8. read only memory
  9. read out
  10. read over
  11. read receipt

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: read off (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.

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