offing meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

offing

noun

UK /ˈɒfɪŋ/ · US /ˈɔfɪŋ/

Etymology From off + -ing. Attested since before 1600. Early texts also spell the term offin and offen.

Nautical, Transport The area of the sea in which a ship can be seen in the distance from land, excluding the parts nearest the shore, and beyond the anchoring ground.

to see (a ship) in the offing
I came to an Anchor in seven fathomes water in the offing to Sea.1610, Samuel Argall, quoted 1625, by Samuel Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimes, p84

3 more examples

September 30, 1659. I, poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwreck'd during a dreadful Storm, in the offing, came on Shore on this dismal, unfortunate Island, which I call'd the Island of Despair, all the rest of the Ship's Company being drown'd, and my self almost dead.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 81:
That's the Grampus's crew. 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: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 15:
In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint […]1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I:

Nautical, Transport The distance that a ship at sea keeps away from land, often because of navigational dangers, fog and other hazards; a position at a distance from shore.

[…] till I ſaw the Land tun out a great Length into the Sea, at about the Diſtance of four or five Leagues before me, and the Sea being very calm I kept a large, offing to make this Point; […]1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 35:
However, what with the help of this Ebb, and our Boats, we by Noon had got an Offing of 1 1/2 or 2 Miles, yet we could hardly flatter ourselves with hopes of getting Clear […]1768–1771, James Cook, chapter 8, in Captain Cook's Journal, First Voyage, published 1893:

1 more example

We beat off shore during the whole of the night, when the weather moderated, and at daybreak we found out that we had not gained much offing, in consequence of the current […]1846, Frederick Marryat, The Privateersman, chapter 2:

Figuratively The foreseeable future. Chiefly in the phrase in the offing.

Derived terms: in the offing
Coordinate terms: ken