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Glite Dictionary
to pension off

to pension off

5.8
Make someone leave their job and give them a pension because they are old or sick
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈpɛnʃən ɔf/
  • UK
translation icon : jubilar
  • After working for thirty years, she was finally pensioned off with a generous retirement plan.

Examples

  • They haven't pensioned you off yet, then?

    Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2012)

  • I plan to pension off the secret police, restore free elections, end minority privilege, and move the seat of government back to New Los Angeles.

    Death Race 2000 (1975)

  • Priests were pensioned off or fled to safer areas across the boundaries, while their church buildings were given to newly stationed predikanten (Protestant rectors).

    Academic text (1992)

  • The company decided to pension off several employees who had reached retirement age.

  • He was pensioned off early due to health issues, receiving his pension benefits immediately.

Synonyms

to retire
vsto pension off
82 2.6

Make someone leave their job, often because of age or a serious event

adds ongoing income when making someone leave for age or health
to pension
vsto pension off
1 5.8

To give a regular payment from the government or a company to a person who has retired

involves forcing someone to leave and supplying that ongoing income
to superannuate
vsto pension off
  • Formal
9.9

To retire someone from a job because they are old or cannot work

also provides ongoing income after they stop work because of age or health

Surface Forms

pension off infinitive
pensioned off past
pensioned off past participle
pensioning off present participle
pensions off third person singular

Morphology

pension + off

The meaning is directly built from the constituents: 'pension' (to retire someone by granting a pension) plus the particle 'off' (indicating removal or sending away) yields 'to retire someone/put them off work with a pension.' This verb+particle composition is compositional and follows common patterns that a B1 learner who knows both words can predict.

Etymology

Pension off likely comes from the image of giving someone a pension and sending them off from work; picture an older worker who is paid a regular sum and asked to go home. So, to pension off someone means to make them 'leave their job' and give them a pension, often because of age or poor health.