let off

verb, noun — 6 senses

let off

verbalso spelled let-off

1

To cause to explode or come out; to release.

Stand back when you let off fireworks.
to let off a fart

2

Idiomatic To forgive and not punish.

The boss let me off for breaking the office window, when in theory she could have fined me about 30 dollars.

3

Idiomatic Synonym of leave off.

4

To ease off.

You let off the throttle while you're shifting, then you resume once you've caught the next gear.

Derived terms: let-off

let-off

noun

Etymology Deverbal from let off.

1

An escape from punishment.

The accused received a suspended sentence, which many saw as a let-off.
The missed penalty was a massive let-off for the home team.

2

Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A device for letting off, releasing, or giving forth, as the warp from the cylinder of a loom.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for let off and let-off.