offset

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
offset/ˈɒfset/

▶noun

• 1 a consideration or amount that diminishes or balances the effect of an opposite one.

• 2 the amount by which something is out of line.

• 3 Surveying a short distance measured perpendicularly from the main line of measurement.

• 4 a side shoot from a plant serving for propagation.

• 5 a spur in a mountain range.

• 6 Architecture a sloping ledge in a wall or other feature where the thickness of the part above is diminished.

• 7 a bend in a pipe to carry it past an obstacle.

• 8 a method of printing in which ink is transferred from a plate or stone to a uniform rubber surface and from that to the paper.

▶verb (offsets, offsetting, offset)

• 1 counterbalance; compensate for.

• 2 place out of line.

• 3 transfer an impression by means of offset printing.