offset

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The verb means 'to counterbalance' or 'to compensate for' and apart from a couple of technical uses has had a limited range until recently. Now, with climate change in everyone's thoughts, it has taken on a new lease of life as the word that eases the conscience regarding carbon emissions caused by environmentally unfriendly activities:

Whitehall has adopted the fashionable habit of carbon offsetting—effectively paying penance for the contribution made by transatlantic flights, hotel air conditioning and cars to wrecking the ozone layer. Tree planting schemes are a particular favourite—Observer, 2005.

The corresponding compound noun is carbon offset.

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Accounting: (1) amount equaling or counterbalancing another amount on the opposite side of the same ledger or the ledger of another account.
See also absorbed. (2) amount that cancels or reduces a claim.


Banking: (1) bank’s legal right to seize deposit funds to cover a loan in default—called right of offset. (2) number stored on a bank card that, when related to the code number remembered by the cardholder, represents the depositor’s identification number, called PAN-PIN pair.

Securities, commodities, options: (1) closing transaction involving the purchase or sale of an option having the same features as one already held. (2) hedge, such as the short sale of a stock to protect a capital gain or the purchase of a future to protect a commodity price, or a Straddle representing the purchase of offsetting put and call options on a security.

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noun

Something to make up for loss or damage: amends, compensation, indemnification, indemnity, quittance, recompense, redress, reimbursement, remuneration, reparation, repayment, requital, restitution, satisfaction, setoff. See substitute.

verb

1. To act as an equalizing weight or force to: balance, compensate, counteract, counterbalance, counterpoise, countervail, make up, set off. See order/disorder.
2. To make up for: balance, compensate, counterbalance, counterpoise, countervail, neutralize, outweigh, redeem, set off. See substitute.

1. A horizontal ledge on a wall (or other member or construction), marking a decrease in its thickness above; also called a watertable. 2. A bend in a pipe.
3. A change in the direction of a pipeline (other than 90°), e.g., by a combination of elbows or bends, which brings one section of the pipe out of line with but into a line parallel to another section.
4. A short line perpendicular to a surveyed line, measured to a line

offset, 2

offset, 3

or point for which data are desired, thus locating the second line or point with reference to the first or surveyed line.

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Point at which the thickness of a wall is reduced, forming a horizontal ‘step’ in one or both faces. The offset provides a ledge on which to support a floor.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A contrary claim or demand that may cancel or reduce a given claim; a counterclaim. A kind of bookkeeping entry that counters the effect of a previous entry.

1. To liquidate a futures position by entering an equivalent, but opposite, transaction which eliminates the delivery obligation.

2. To reduce an investor's net position in an investment to zero, so that no further gains or losses will be experienced from that position. 

Investopedia Says:
1. Investors will offset futures contracts and other investment positions in order to remove themselves from any associated liabilities. Almost all futures positions are offset before the terms of the futures contract are realized. Despite the fact that most positions are offset near the delivery term, the benefits of the futures contract as a hedging mechanism are still realized.

2. If the initial investment was a purchase, a sale is made to neutralize the position; to offset an initial sale, a purchase is made to neutralize the position. For example, if you wanted to offset a long position in a stock, you could short sell an identical number of shares. By doing so, your net ownership of the stock would be zero, and you would not incur any further gains or losses from the position.

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A short lateral shoot arising near the base of a plant and readily producing new roots. Offsets can be detached and replanted away from the parent plant.

n

A deduction; a counterclaim; a contrary claim or demand by which a given claim may be lessened or cancelled.

For a list of words related to offset, see:

• Practice, Tools, and Techniques - offset: small new plant at end of stem sent out from base of mature perennial

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See words rhyming with "offset."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Offset.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - rodskud, sideskud, aflægger, murafsats, terrasse, modvægt, afsætning, offset, afsmitning
v. tr. - erstatte, opveje, modregne
v. intr. - gøre en indsats

Nederlands (Dutch)
opwegen tegen, goedmaken, compenseren, te niet doen, in offset drukken, uitloper, spruit, tegenwicht, vergoeding, compensatie

Français (French)
n. - (gén) compensation, (Bot) rejeton, (Tech) coude
v. tr. - compenser, imprimer en offset
v. intr. - compenser, imprimer en offset

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ausgleich, Offsetdruck
v. - ausgleichen, versetzen, im Offsetverfahren drucken

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αντισταθμιστικός παράγων ή αντιστάθμιση, κλάδος, βλαστός, (τυπογρ.) φωτοτυπογραφία, όφσετ, έναρξη, ξεκίνημα, (οικον.) αντισταθμιστικό όφελος
v. - αντισταθμίζω, ισοφαρίζω, αποζημιώνω, τοποθετώ έκκεντρα, προσδίδω λοξότητα

Italiano (Italian)
controbilanciare

Português (Portuguese)
n. - compensação (f), desvio (m), ressalto (m)
v. - compensar, imprimir em ofsete, destacar-se

Русский (Russian)
возмещать, печатать офсетным способом

Español (Spanish)
n. - compensación, equivalente, vástago lateral, colateral
v. tr. - compensar, desviar, imprimir por el procedimiento offset, contrabalancear, oponer
v. intr. - hacer saliente, salir lateralmente

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - offset, (bot)utlöpare, kompensation, hjälplinje
v. - utjämna, kompensera, neutralisera

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
抵销, 平版印刷, 支派, 弥补, 用平版印刷, 形成支管, 用平版印刷术, 装支管

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 抵銷, 平版印刷, 支派
v. tr. - 彌補, 用平版印刷, 抵銷
v. intr. - 形成支管, 用平版印刷術, 裝支管

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 차감계산, 분파, 지맥
v. tr. - 차감계산 하다, 벽면에 단을 짓다
v. intr. - 갈라져 나오다, 오프셋인쇄를 하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 埋め合わせ, 相殺するもの, オフセット印刷, ひこばえ, 横枝, 分家
adj. - オフセットの
v. - 埋め合わせる, 補う

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فرع من نبات, تعويض (فعل) يوازن‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮קיזוז, אופסט (שיטת הדפסה), נצר (של צמח), מרחק קצר הנמדד בזווית ישרה לכיוון המדידה הרגיל‬
v. tr. - ‮קיזז, פיצה, איזן, השווה עם‬
v. intr. - ‮קיזז, פיצה, איזן, בלט הצדה, הדפיס בשיטת אופסט‬

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