Definitions

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

  • adverb & adjective Sports Illegally ahead of the ball or puck in the attacking zone.
  • adverb & adjective Football Illegally beyond the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped or ahead of the ball when the ball is kicked on a kickoff.
  • noun An offside motion or play.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • On the wrong side; specifically, in foot-ball and hockey, between the ball and the opponents' goal during the play. A player off-side is prohibited from touching the ball or an opponent.

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

  • adjective (Sports) Illegally beyond a prescribed line or area or ahead of the ball or puck; -- in sports such as football or hockey.

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

  • adjective sports In an illegal position ahead of the ball
  • adjective US To the side of the road, past the curb and sidewalk, e.g. an offside diner (restaurant.)
  • adjective bridge Unfavourably located, from the point of view of the player taking a finesse.
  • noun sports An offside play
  • noun UK the right side of a road vehicle when facing in the same direction as the vehicle

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb illegally in advance of the ball or puck
  • adjective illegally beyond a prescribed line or area or ahead of the ball or puck
  • noun (sport) the mistake of occupying an illegal position on the playing field (in football, soccer, ice hockey, field hockey, etc.)

Etymologies

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Examples

  • But the corner ends in a free kick for Houston.62 mins: That was good defending by Boswell, who stayed on his feet to slow up Keane.63 mins: There's still plenty of chatter about that offside decision: James Tyler tweets: @Busfield Thinking Keane was called offside incorrectly bc the linesman couldn't tell when the ball was played.

    LA Galaxy 1-0 Houston Dynamo - as it happened! | MLS Cup final 2011 2011

  • Learning his lesson, when Gerrard puts through another ball to him, he simply doesn't bother to chase it, so far offside is he.

    Bolton Wanderers v Liverpool - as it happened! Tom Bryant 2010

  • RSL had a goal disallowed in the 21st minute after Alvaro Saborio was called offside on his goal.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • But the goal was called offside, just as Maurice Edu's late goal was disallowed against Slovenia last week, a score that would have given the Americans a victory.

    USA Advances In World Cup With Epic Goal In Final Minutes 2010

  • As for the anachronism known as offside, experts in physiology say the human eye frequently cannot call offside accurately (try simultaneously tracking the ball and two or more sprinting players separated by 20 to 30 meters).

    Jonathan Littman: Innovation World Cup Style 2010

  • Defensive tackle Matt Conrath was called offside for lining up in the neutral zone, a five-yard penalty that afforded Duke a first down.

    'Day-one, self-inflicted' penalties haunt Cavaliers Steve Yanda 2010

  • As for the anachronism known as offside, experts in physiology say the human eye frequently cannot call offside accurately (try simultaneously tracking the ball and two or more sprinting players separated by 20 to 30 meters).

    Jonathan Littman: Innovation World Cup Style 2010

  • Flood's clever kick turned the defence and, though Ashton was lucky not to be called offside in hacking it on, it was his presence of mind that set up the next phase for the replacement hooker, Dylan Hartley, who ran on to a pass from good charging distance for the try.

    Martin Johnson's emerging England taught lesson by ruthless All Blacks Kevin Mitchell at Twickenham 2010

  • What would happen if a ref called offside but was reversed on review?

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Getting it Right 2009

  • When you come to a place like this you do need the officials to do their jobs and the first goal was a yard offside, which is a big disappointment.

    The Guardian World News Richard Rae 2011

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