to chase off
6
3.3
- phrasal verb
- /tʃeɪs ɔf/
:
ahuyentar
- Mills fires back at the two would-be robbers, chasing them off.
- chased off wolves
- chased off the property
These kids who had been there almost took the Alice pack and when he had chased them off earlier, they hit it by mistake.
- These kids who had been there almost took the Alice pack and when he had chased them off earlier, they hit it by mistake.
- I mean, I didn't know if there's some bad guy downstairs my dad was chasing off with a gun or, you know, I had no idea.
Examples
-
If the guard saw them, he would chase them off with his stick.
Fiction book (1992) -
When raccoons try to get on our back porch, Momma just chases 'em off with a broom.
Fiction book (1994) -
But just a minute ago she was chasing him off.
-
We chased them off the wall.
-
I keep telling them but they will not listen and Al just keeps chasing them off and keeps attacking them.
-
Henry, you can't go chasing off like that.
-
From dawn to dusk, he could be seen chasing off the flocks of birds that came to feed on his crops.
Fiction book (2000) -
The cormorants moved onto the island in 1983, after managers chased them off a different, treeless island.
Academic text (2009) -
We've crossed rivers, negotiated highways, hurried across slippery blacktop parking lots, and chased off a whole pack of snarling Doberman-mix dogs.
Fiction book (1999) -
When the dog barked loudly, it managed to chase off the intruder lurking in the garden.
Synonyms
87
4.0
Force someone or something to leave using threats
71
3.4
To force a person, animal, or feeling to go away
70
3.8
Force someone or something to leave a place
68
2.7
To make people or animals go away by frightening them
49
7.0
To force someone to leave a place like a bar or club
47
2.5
Make a person or animal go away because they are afraid
46
4.4
To make someone leave a job by pressure or threats
26
2.6
To make people or things leave by scaring them
25
4.7
Make someone or something go away
19
4.1
Force someone or something to move away from danger
14
6.0
To force someone or something to move away
8
6.5
To make someone leave quickly to show they are not wanted
5
4.1
To make people or animals go away by waving your hand
4
4.5
To force someone or something out of a place by chasing them
4
7.9
Make someone leave quickly and forcefully
1
3.3
To make someone or something go away by making them afraid
1
8.1
Make animals or people who attack you go away
1
4.0
To force someone to leave a place, group or job
1
2.8
To make people or animals go away by scaring them
1
5.4
Make a person or animal go away with words and gestures
1
7.1
To force someone or something out of a place by searching
Antonyms
How Forceful
194
5.0
46
4.4
6
3.3
87
4.0
- Informal
5
6.4
- Informal
35
7.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to force someone to leave' is directly and compositionally derived from 'chase' (to pursue) combined with the particle 'off' (away/from a place). This verb + particle pattern is a regular, transparent English construction and is readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The phrasal verb chase off comes from a simple picture: someone uses chase to run after and off to send away, like a farmer running at a fox to shoo it from his chickens. So, it means 'to force someone to leave'.