away from Earth, or any place treated within a given fictional context as the native world; on or towards another world or planet
The emperor was silent, looking at her from under his brows. After a slightly uncomfortable pause, the girl turned away. ‘I'm leaving,’ she said briefly. ‘Where?’ ‘Off-world.’
Landor ignored the thrust. ‘Where do you go now, Valkyr?’ ‘Off-world.’ ‘Of course,’ Landor smiled thinly, his eyebrows arching over pale, shrewd eyes. ‘Off-world.’
Nature had provided him with a coat of thick curly hair, close in texture to the wool of a sheep, from which came a pungent, oily odor only apparent to those from off world.
He could try to exist without subcitizenship and a work permit, haunting the Casual Labour Centre to compete with too many of his fellows for the very limited crumbs of employment; he could somehow raise the stiff entrance fee and buy his way into the strictly illegal but flourishing and perilous Thieves' Guild; or he could sign on as contract labour and be shipped off world in deep freeze with no beforehand knowledge of his destination or work.
In any event, I returned to the crèche well enough pleased with the bargain Lazk Volk had aided me to, prepared to cut ties with my old life and lift off-world to a new.
The law provides that before you, who are heir to d Domain, undertake any such risky task as going offworld, you must provide an heir to your Domain.
Her choice has created more pain for her: honor the oath and kill Haldane; break the oath and flee offworld to escape the vengeance of the Amazons.
Below The Eye was the cargo loading area, generally reserved for the Company’s own ships. Independent traders docked offworld.
Only when I was living offworld.
‘Do you know where he went?’… ‘Off-world…Somewhere. But he'll be back.’
At least the next time I stole it I took it off-world.
He would be back to this world, he knew: to bring back the Guardians, when those who went offworld to form the droch-killing apparatus returned.
The ship’s engines trailed fire as it headed off-world.
She had taken her argument to the Aunts' Gossip, where her desire to go offworld was quickly approved—she was too intelligent by far to fare well in the local marriage market.
On my order, the Council stayed away from Acranam’s affairs, beyond ordering any Choosers be sent offworld to protect their remaining unChosen.
Unless Council had moved them offworld already, she thought suddenly, trying to calculate the date.
I’d never been off-world myself, although I’d often dreamed of it. This man might have visited dozens of worlds for his job, even the government seat at the Pearled Halls, and I envied him for it.
antedating 1943
C.L. Moore, 'Judgment Night'
Added to the OED in March 2004 with an earliest date of 1955.
Last modified 2021-03-31 14:57:49
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.