to get off
- phrasal verb
- /ɡɛt ɔf/
- What time do you get off work?
- get off work
So I was there for five months, just got off of duty.
- So I was there for five months, just got off of duty.
Examples
-
Then she added, "Her husband gets off his job then, and they come straight here."
Fiction book (1994) -
I get off at 9:30.
-
Listen, when do you get off work?
-
What time do you get off?
-
I go to work at six and get off in the middle of the afternoon.
Fiction book (1994) -
Please meet me at the Buckhorn when you get off, around 5? 6?
Fiction book (1990) -
I just got off the phone with Julian Nava... and the school board said... they're going to consider our demands next week.
-
What time do you get off work today so we can have dinner together?
-
I usually feel exhausted when I get off work after a long day.
-
After a busy shift, she looks forward to relaxing once she gets off work.
Synonyms
Leave a place or situation
To not punish someone or excuse them from a duty
To stop working for the rest of the day
Leave a place or start a journey
To record the time you finish work using a machine
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
get + off
The sense 'leave a vehicle' is directly derivable from combining a motion verb 'get' (move/arrive at) with the particle 'off' (away from a surface), so that reading is transparent to learners. However, the extension 'stop bothering/irritating someone' is a metaphorical use of 'off' (move away from/contact removed) and requires recognition of a figurative transfer, so overall the item is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Get off for ending work comes from the image of stepping away from your place of work or machine at the end of the day, as if you get off the work floor. That's why it means 'to leave work' or 'be free from duty'.