to count off
3
4.1
- phrasal verb
- /kaʊnt ɔf/
:
contar
- As they prepared for the performance, each member of the choir was asked to count off their number.
- counted off ten seconds
- counting off numbers
- counted off, "one, two"
Examples
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The officer in charge told them to count off in threes and have every third man step two steps forward.
Blog text (11) -
Count off!
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Today, you will count off in English.
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Um, everybody, let's count off, okay?
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The participants were assigned to their group by counting off numbers one through ten.
Academic text (2007) -
Directors can ask students to count off and divide into two equal groups mixed evenly across the classroom.
Academic text (2014) -
The boys were divided into groups, often by counting off numbers, and randomly assigned a leader who has been trained by Project Adventure.
Academic text (2007) -
To begin the activity, have each student take a number from 1 to 4 (they can count off 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.).
Academic text (2014) -
As she'd been instructed to, Brianne counted off the minutes as she filled the duffel bags.
Fiction book (2002) -
The teacher asked the students to count off from one to ten to form teams for the game.
Synonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
count + off
The meaning 'to call out numbers in turn' is directly derivable from 'count' (to recite numbers) combined with the particle 'off' which here signals sequencing or separation; together they form a common verb+particle pattern meaning to enumerate people/items one by one. This compositional pattern is regular in English and is likely inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituents and basic phrasal-verb behavior.
Etymology
The phrase count off comes from military and school drills where people say numbers out loud in order, one after another, to form lines or teams. People would say the count and call numbers off to show each person's place, so today it means 'to call out numbers to organize a group'.