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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Offence \Of*fence"\, noun See {Offense}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Offense \Of*fense"\, Offence \Of*fence"\, noun [F., fr. L. offensa. See {Offend}.]
1. The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury.
Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. --Rom. iv. 25.
I have given my opinion against the authority of two great men, but I hope without offense to their memories. --Dryden.
2. The state of being offended or displeased; anger; displeasure; as, to cause offense.
He was content to give them just cause of offense, when they had power to make just revenge. --Sir P. Sidney.
3. A cause or occasion of stumbling or of sin. [Obs.]
Woe to that man by whom the offense cometh! --Matt. xviii. 7.
4. In any contest, the act or process of attacking as contrasted with the act of defending; the offensive; as, to go on the offense. [PJC]
5. (Sports) The members of a team who have the primary responsibility to score goals, in contrast to those who have the responsibility to defend, i.e. to prevent the opposing team from scoring goal. [PJC]
Note: This word, like expense, is often spelled with a c. It ought, however, to undergo the same change with expense, the reasons being the same, namely, that s must be used in offensive as in expensive, and is found in the Latin offensio, and the French offense.
{To take offense}, to feel, or assume to be, injured or affronted; to become angry or hostile.
{Weapons of offense}, those which are used in attack, in distinction from those of defense, which are used to repel.
Syn: Displeasure; umbrage; resentment; misdeed; misdemeanor; trespass; transgression; delinquency; fault; sin; crime; affront; indignity; outrage; insult.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
offence
noun
1: the action of attacking an enemy [syn: {offense}, {offensive}]
2: the team that has the ball (or puck) and is trying to score [syn: {offense}] [ant: {defense}, {defense}]
3: a feeling of anger caused by being offended; "he took offence at my question" [syn: {umbrage}, {offense}]
4: a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others [syn: {discourtesy}, {offense}, {offensive activity}]
5: a crime less serious than a felony [syn: {misdemeanor}, {misdemeanour}, {infraction}, {offense}, {violation}, {infringement}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
28 Moby Thesaurus words for "offence": breach, crime, dereliction, error, fault, felony, harm, hurt, infraction, infringement, injure, insult, lapse, malefaction, misdeed, misdemeanor, offend, outrage, peccadillo, sin, slight, slip, take umbrage, transgression, trespass, violation, wrong, wrongdoing
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Offence (1.) An injury or wrong done to one (1 Sam. 25:31; Rom. 5:15). (2.) A stumbling-block or cause of temptation (Isa. 8:14; Matt. 16:23; 18:7). Greek skandalon, properly that at which one stumbles or takes offence. The "offence of the cross" (Gal. 5:11) is the offence the Jews took at the teaching that salvation was by the crucified One, and by him alone. Salvation by the cross was a stumbling-block to their national pride.
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