Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not engaged in or responsible for assigned work.
  • adjective Of or relating to the periods when a person is not engaged in or responsible for assigned work.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective prenominal not performing or available for duties at the given moment. Oposite of on-duty, working, and on-the-job.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Alternative spelling of off duty.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The driver, also injured and hospitalized, was later identified as an off-duty police officer.

    The Seattle Times 2012

  • She’d done everything she could to help, and calling the off-duty nanny can’t be a mother’s best moment.

    sTORI Telling Tori Spelling 2008

  • All off-duty police in Bessemer were called in to patrol downtown, but Push Day never happened.

    A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010

  • Those who live close enough to walk to synagogue do so, avoiding the lines of cars waiting to be directed by off-duty police officers into spots on the streets and in the jammed parking lot.

    American Grace Robert D. Putnam 2010

  • Donegal, a Spanish architect — somewhat too anxious to state, up front, that he is not, repeat not Latino — an off-duty cop from Beacon, New York, and an attorney who works for Crédit Suisse.

    Archive 2009-01-01 2009

  • Twelve bodies of federal officers found at an off-duty location -- 32 deaths in the past few days.

    "We have never done anything against the drug lords. We stay away from the drug war " 2009

  • To Albany observers, an invitation to join the governor at a performance about two drag queens, a transsexual and their cabaret adventures appeared to be a change of pace for a politician who has described his preferred off-duty pursuits as fishing, watching "Deadliest Catch" and repairing muscle cars.

    Cuomo Event Bit of a Drag (Show) Erica Orden 2011

  • Wednesday in an off-duty motorcycle accident, is a well-liked officer and former U.S.

    Heroes or Villains? 2010

  • A senior member of a Lebanese political party allied with Syria, along with two other civilians and an off-duty soldier were killed after gunmen opened fire and lobbed a grenade near hundreds of people holding an anti-Assad protest, a security official said in Beirut.

    Syrian forces open fire on protesters; 16 killed 2011

  • Shortly after, Mr. Breivik, posing as a police officer, boarded a ferry to the nearby island of Utoya, where one of his first victims was an unarmed off-duty policeman who was providing security for the camp.

    Norway Faces Dilemma on Openness Vanessa Fuhrmans 2011

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