to walk off
6
7.5
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
llevarse
- She was caught trying to walk off with the store's merchandise.
- walk off the job
It means that a person who did some really bad things walk off with enough money to keep a small town going for a few years.
- It means that a person who did some really bad things walk off with enough money to keep a small town going for a few years.
Examples
-
She walked off with everything else.
-
I let her walk off with the wine.
-
Oh, we, we, we've had people sometimes just walk off with our food, right.
-
They take the things from them and start to walk off.
Fiction book (1991) -
You know you can't just walk off with someone's baby.
-
I can't believe he would just walk off with my lunch without asking.
-
If you see someone walk off with my backpack, please let me know.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Take something that does not belong to you without permission
79
6.3
To steal something quickly without the owner knowing
50
5.4
To leave quickly with something stolen or taken without permission
49
5.5
To take something quickly without the owner noticing
19
6.4
To run away quickly after stealing or committing a crime
13
6.5
To take something quickly without the owner's permission, often without being noticed
7
8.4
Steal things, for example electronics or cars
To secretly steal something
Antonyms
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core meaning 'to leave/ walk away from a place' is directly and compositionally derived from 'walk' (move on foot) + 'off' (away from), following a common motion verb + particle pattern. While the nuance of suddenness or annoyance requires pragmatic context, a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the basic sense of leaving.
Etymology
Walk off comes from the simple image of someone picking up an item and literally walking off with it, leaving the owner behind. So the phrase can mean 'to take something without permission' or 'to steal'.