^{SiM 20 000       2 (especially BrE) on sale at a lower

price than normal for a short period of time MM ^ ITUr ; ft!] # & H: Italian wines are on (special) offer this week, jfeAfiJfiunder 'offer (fir£) if a house or other building is under offer, sb has agreed to buy it at a particular price (         ) S

offering /'ofarir); NAmE 'a:f-/ noun 1 something that is produced for other people to use, watch, enjoy etc.     jgUft; &iBitMi*.i& : the latest

offering from the Canadian-born writer fE jjfl # A {±J £ (ft Wftfrf^p” 2 something that is given to a god as part of religious worship ^ pp ; t5p — see also

BURNT OFFERING, PEACE OFFERING

offertory /'Dfatri; NAmE 'o:farto:ri; 'aif-/ noun {pi. -ies) 1 the offering of bread and wine to God at a church service      2 an offering or a

collection of money during a church service

)

off-hand /.Dfhaend; NAmE ,o:f-; ,a:f-/ adj., adv.

m adj. (disapproving) not showing much interest in sb/sth an offhand manner 3&j|; 0 He was very offhand with me.

off-hand-ed-ly /,Df haendidli; NAmE ,a:f-; ,a:f-/ adv.; He spoke offhandedly, making it clear I had no say in the matter.

adv. without being able to check sth or think about it iP0i&: I don’t know offhand how much we made last year, ffc— if iMP

office 0-w /'ofis; NAmE 'a:f-/ noun

                 ROOM/BUILDING AM; 1 [C] a room, set of rooms

or building where people work, usually sitting at desks A£-ji[; A£rl£: The company is moving to new offices on the other side of town,     —iiWfr A£

o Are you going to the office today? IfcAA-AA^S =-f% o an office job A'&liCXfE 0 office workers b'&'sL AM see also back office, head office 2 [C] a room in which a particular person works, usually at a desk ( ^A^J ) A£r!i[: Some people have to share an office. Hf & A R HE&    — I a] A&A a 0 Come into my office, if

I'JA^A^Hli^to 3 {NAmE) = SURGERY: a doctor’s/ dentist’s office i# A ; HE i# Ilf 4 [C] (often in com­pounds A An-Ml) a room or building used for a particular purpose, especially to provide information or a service 3^^jib; (          the local

tourist office ^ Oho a ticket office H H A see also box office, registry office

                 GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT MMm I 5 Office [C] used in the names of some British government departments

(         ) : the Foreign Office

A3£rP 0 the Home Office pfcjIEfeoP

                 IMPORTANT POSITION 1 f 101 {/ 6 [U, C] an important

position of authority, especially in government; the work and duties connected with this HIE; Si H IT IE; SHIR#: She held office as a cabinet minister for ten years. MUHf PA l&I rP      A ^ ° 0 How long has he

been in office? #,jf IE^ AT? o The party has been out of office (= has not formed a government) for many years. IP B if ^ A T 0 0 The present government

took office in 2005.         2005 A-t     0 to

seek/runfor office / #;i£AIE 0 {BrE) to stand for office j&ji&HIE 0 the office of treasurer EJj^&IIE#

ITSTBil through sb’s good 'offices (formal) with sb’s help

iia«

'office block {BrE) (also 'office building NAmE, BrE) noun a large building that contains offices, usually belonging to more than one company A^AI£ ( ffi#

yijim&nsm)

'office boy, 'office girl noun {old-fashioned) a young person employed to do simple tasks in an office AAjIl

mm

'office-holder (also 'office-bearer) noun a person who is in a position of authority, especially in the govern­ment or a government organization 'g' M; -&# M; Si

'office hours noun [pi.] the time when people in offices are normally working A A BTI eO : Our telephone lines

| 1383     officially

are open during normal office hours, I^f] W ElijfAiE'^’ A'AlW^t^So

of-fi-Cer On /'nfisa(r); NAmE 'o:f-; 'a:f-/ noun 1 a person who is in a position of authority in the armed forces : army/airforce/naval, etc. officers p® ^   llflf o a commissioned/non-

commissioned officer A H ; % ± o The matter was passed on to me, as your commanding officer, fE A#[Ej ieW'g , ji # ^ ft fij T $ & M o — see also flying OFFICER, PETTY OFFICER, PILOT OFFICER, WARRANT

officer 2 (often in compounds    a person

who is in a position of authority in the government or a large organization () TTM, an environmental health officer iE It JI IT M O a. customs/prison/welfare officer W/e/ II fR / jg f •] IT M O officers of state (= ministers in the government) ( i^Uff # rP ) rP — see also chief executive officer,

MEDICAL OFFICER, PRESS OFFICER, PROBATION OFFICER,

returning officer 3 (often used as a form of address = police officer: the officer in charge of the case  i 0 the investigating officer ji£ff

0 Yes, officer, I saw what happened. H,

4 {NAmE) a title for a

police officer   Officer Dibble ifiAAW'R’

'office worker noun a person who works in the offices of a business or company (    ) A^AM;

offi cial Oti /0-fiji/ adj., noun

a adj. 1 [only before noun] connected with the job of sb who is in a position of authority £-#|$;

$J: official responsibilities 0 the Prime Minister’s official residence #   ^ KP 0 He attended in his official

capacity as mayor.          0 This was

her first official engagement.     O He

made an official visit to Tokyo in March. itkAHjl

2 [usually before noun] agreed to, said, done, etc. by sb who is in a position of authority ©; f an official an-

nouncement/decision/statement 'g' A         o' /     ^

                 according to official statistics/figures IS^'g'A^tif / Wi

7 O An official inquiry has been launched into the cause of the accident.          JFiW0 o The

country’s official language is Spanish. ^W'g'Aifl

0 I intend to lodge an official complaint (= to complain to sb in authority). jT ^ IE A ff3 ifc 0 o The news is not yet official. &A %£ Wrft 0 3 [only before noun] that is told to the public but

may not be true      ^'g’A^: I only

knew the official version of events.

A'g'AWIiSAo o The official story has always been that they are just good friends. 'g'A—iiftfM ]R7ilJi£F Ao 4 [only before noun] formal and attended by people in authority IEAW;      'g’A^'n^I: unofficial

function/reception f        3®#^ O The official

opening is planned for October.          0

H23 unofficial

mnoun (often in compounds IfrfaJ&'M.'n ia]) a person who is in a position of authority in a large organization ^ M ; H m ; M R M : a bank/company/court/ government official   o a

senior official in the State Department [Il^-^Efti^jif'g' M offi cial dom /o'fijldam/ noun [U] (disapproving) people who are in positions of authority in large organizations when they seem to be more interested in following rules than in being helpful Hr He; ^ Hr #} A of fi cial ese /a.fija'liiz/ noun [U] {disapproving) language used in official documents that is thought by many people to be too complicated and difficult to under­stand ('s.&mmmm)

of fi cial ly o-w /a'fljali/ adv.

                 publicly and by sb who is in a position of authority IE

Ai&; llrAitfe; The library will be officially

opened by the local MP.

IIH o 0 We haven’t yet been told officially about the closure.    A®WlEAiiftlo o The college is

not an officially recognized English language school. IP 2 according to a