Word.ws English Dictionary

throw-offs

throw-offs is the plural of throw-off.

Meaning of throw-off

Noun

throw-off (plural throw-offs)

  1. (UK) A start in a hunt or a race.
    • We had not covered much more than three miles since the throw-off; but horses and hounds already exhibited a most interesting and picturesque tail.1870 July, Wat Bradwood, “Our Drag”, in The Sporting magazine, volume 69, page 122
  2. A race in which a contestant is paid to deliberately lose.
    • Since the spring of 1863 there has never been a throw-off race, nor shall there ever be a race on the track for hippodroming; all must be on the square, as the club started it for their own fun and to work their horses on.1864, Spirit of the Times and the New York Sportsman, page 353
  3. A control that engages or disengages part of the mechanism on a device without having to turn the device off.
    • I have seen a corporation erect a $60,000 building, including $500 expende in decorating the business office, and still do its job printing on ancient Degeners, unprovided with throw-offs or ink fountains, while the business manager was perplexed to see his competitors, provided with modern...1890, Karnac, “What I have seen”, in Inland Printer, American Lithographer, volume 8, page 868
  4. A throw taken to resume play, such as after a goal or at the start of a period.
    • When a player of the side having the throw-off at the center, crosses the halfway line ahead of the ball, he is "off-side" and the ball shall be called back for a second throw from a new line five yards back of the halfway line.1929, American Physical Education Review - Volume 34, page 306
  5. Income minus expenses and depreciation (before tax).
    • In the case of the single investment, both the tax payments and the quasi-rent throw-off would be only for the single investment being evaluated.1968, Richard Leo Pollock, The Tax Depreciation Problem, page 289
  6. (broadly) A discount on a debt or invoice due to a problem with the asset being paid for.
    • Then there is, I think, $25,000 extra allowed in the appropriation to pay for extra service at the rate of 4 cents per mile, where the amount of service is very great and the number of throw-offs very great.1913, United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Postage on Second-Class Mail Matter and Compensation for Transportation of Mail, Railway Mail Pay

See all 13 meanings of throw-off

Questions about throw-offs

What is throw-offs the plural of?
Throw-offs is the plural of throw-off.

Words near throw-offs in the dictionary

  1. throw-down
  2. throw-downs
  3. throw-in
  4. throw-ins
  5. throw-off
  6. throw-offs
  7. throw-out
  8. throw-outs
  9. throw-up
  10. throw-ups
  11. throw-weight

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: throw-offs (page history and authors); throw-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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