1
: coming or moving away from the shore toward the water
an offshore breeze
2
a
: situated off the shore but within waters under a country's control
offshore fisheries
b
: distant from the shore compare inshore
3
: situated or operating in a foreign country
offshore mutual funds
offshore banking
off·shore
ˈȯf-ˌshȯr 
: off the shore of
Synonyms
Examples of offshore in a Sentence
Adjective
We sailed to an offshore island.
He works on an offshore oil rig.
They opened an offshore bank account.
He traced the money to an offshore investment company.
Recent Examples on the Web
John Deem, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
The deposits where it was found aren’t necessarily deep sea, adds Fraser, but still a ways offshore.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2024
On and offshore, the Gulf Coast is dotted with oil and gas facilities, which not only contribute to the climate crisis that is exacerbating sea level rise but are also one of the leading causes of land subsidence in the region.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024
The National Weather Service said today that waves as large as 23 feet were looming off the Central California coast, with waves along the coast south of the Channel Islands, including Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, reaching 19 feet offshore.
—NBC News, 6 Feb. 2024
The military intends to build the dock several miles offshore, where civilian ships will offload aid supplies.
—Carol E. Lee, NBC News, 23 Mar. 2024
Eventually, that sewage entered a storm drain system, which flowed through a pipe that discharged the wastewater about a mile offshore.
—Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2024
While hovering over a beach in Australia, a drone captured footage of a dog’s close scrape with a crocodile lurking just offshore.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2024
This results in high river plume pushing into the Gulf and nudging the tuna farther offshore, where salinity levels remain favorable for predators and forage.
—David A. Brown, Field & Stream, 7 Mar. 2024
Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
At the same time, insofar as the United States has undertaken the effort to counter the Houthi attacks only because none of its regional partners are entirely willing or able to do so in the interest of protecting global trade, that effort in itself remains broadly in line with offshore balancing.
—Steven Simon, Foreign Affairs, 9 Apr. 2024
In some ways, the resorts are like offshore oil rigs, pumping out nearly all of the country’s income.
—Maahil Mohamed Elke Scholiers, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2024
Offshore Fishing Head at least nine miles from shore by boat and reach depths of 50 to 100 feet for offshore fishing.
—Jp Shaffer, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
City officials expect to find a better quality of sand with larger grains in the offshore deposits.
—Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024
The result: many developers have taken for granted that the biggest blades will only work for offshore wind projects.
—Justin Worland, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Bess takes a bold step by marrying Jan, an uninhibited outsider who works on an offshore oil rig.
—Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 3 Apr. 2024
This might include attorneys familiar with offshore real estate deals, psychologists who can reconcile you with your ungrateful grandchildren, or art advisors like Newton, who sits on UBS’s family office team.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2024
Jeremy Beaman, Washington Examiner, 16 Jan. 2023
Bubbles emerge from a methane seep offshore Virginia.
—Jeffrey Marlow, Discover Magazine, 7 June 2016
The storm began organizing Friday offshore the Carolinas when two disturbances along the jet stream merged over the Southeast.
—Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2022
As of this writing, more than 70 container ships are idling offshore the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach because there are not enough dockworkers to unload the cargo, nor are there enough truck drivers to transport the goods.
—Adam Strauss, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2021
Salmon fishing has been given an additional boost by large schools of juvenile anchovies that have arrived this month offshore the Bay Area coast and in San Francisco Bay.
—Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, 21 Aug. 2020
As for crude inventories, there are also ample stockpiles being housed in onshore tanks and vessels offshore that could hit the market as the economics of storing the crude becomes less attractive.
—Serene Cheong, Bloomberg.com, 20 May 2020
Echoing Lynch’s comments, Al Cook, executive vice president of Global Strategy and Business Development at Equinor, pointed out the company’s investments in carbon capture and storage near Norway, and a wind energy project offshore Scotland.
—Katherine Dunn, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2020
Apache has pinned high hopes on Suriname after Exxon Mobil started developing huge oil projects offshore of neighboring Guyana.
—Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle, 7 Jan. 2020
Adverb
On March 3, two months after fishermen spotted it offshore from Edisto, South Carolina, with its head, mouth, and lips cut open by a boat propeller, a calf was reported dead on Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia.
—John Deem, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
The deposits where it was found aren’t necessarily deep sea, adds Fraser, but still a ways offshore.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2024
On and offshore, the Gulf Coast is dotted with oil and gas facilities, which not only contribute to the climate crisis that is exacerbating sea level rise but are also one of the leading causes of land subsidence in the region.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024
The National Weather Service said today that waves as large as 23 feet were looming off the Central California coast, with waves along the coast south of the Channel Islands, including Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, reaching 19 feet offshore.
—NBC News, 6 Feb. 2024
The military intends to build the dock several miles offshore, where civilian ships will offload aid supplies.
—Carol E. Lee, NBC News, 23 Mar. 2024
Eventually, that sewage entered a storm drain system, which flowed through a pipe that discharged the wastewater about a mile offshore.
—Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2024
While hovering over a beach in Australia, a drone captured footage of a dog’s close scrape with a crocodile lurking just offshore.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2024
This results in high river plume pushing into the Gulf and nudging the tuna farther offshore, where salinity levels remain favorable for predators and forage.
—David A. Brown, Field & Stream, 7 Mar. 2024
Adjective
Just last week, the grid operator released a $6.1-billion plan to build new electric lines that would help import solar and wind power from Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and from offshore wind turbines that would produce more consistently than onshore wind farms.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
At the same time, insofar as the United States has undertaken the effort to counter the Houthi attacks only because none of its regional partners are entirely willing or able to do so in the interest of protecting global trade, that effort in itself remains broadly in line with offshore balancing.
—Steven Simon, Foreign Affairs, 9 Apr. 2024
In some ways, the resorts are like offshore oil rigs, pumping out nearly all of the country’s income.
—Maahil Mohamed Elke Scholiers, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2024
Offshore Fishing Head at least nine miles from shore by boat and reach depths of 50 to 100 feet for offshore fishing.
—Jp Shaffer, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
City officials expect to find a better quality of sand with larger grains in the offshore deposits.
—Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024
The result: many developers have taken for granted that the biggest blades will only work for offshore wind projects.
—Justin Worland, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Bess takes a bold step by marrying Jan, an uninhibited outsider who works on an offshore oil rig.
—Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 3 Apr. 2024
This might include attorneys familiar with offshore real estate deals, psychologists who can reconcile you with your ungrateful grandchildren, or art advisors like Newton, who sits on UBS’s family office team.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2024
Preposition
The Outer Continental Shelf offshore Maine is virgin water for wind.
—Jeremy Beaman, Washington Examiner, 16 Jan. 2023
Bubbles emerge from a methane seep offshore Virginia.
—Jeffrey Marlow, Discover Magazine, 7 June 2016
The storm began organizing Friday offshore the Carolinas when two disturbances along the jet stream merged over the Southeast.
—Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2022
As of this writing, more than 70 container ships are idling offshore the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach because there are not enough dockworkers to unload the cargo, nor are there enough truck drivers to transport the goods.
—Adam Strauss, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2021
Salmon fishing has been given an additional boost by large schools of juvenile anchovies that have arrived this month offshore the Bay Area coast and in San Francisco Bay.
—Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, 21 Aug. 2020
As for crude inventories, there are also ample stockpiles being housed in onshore tanks and vessels offshore that could hit the market as the economics of storing the crude becomes less attractive.
—Serene Cheong, Bloomberg.com, 20 May 2020
Echoing Lynch’s comments, Al Cook, executive vice president of Global Strategy and Business Development at Equinor, pointed out the company’s investments in carbon capture and storage near Norway, and a wind energy project offshore Scotland.
—Katherine Dunn, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2020
Apache has pinned high hopes on Suriname after Exxon Mobil started developing huge oil projects offshore of neighboring Guyana.
—Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle, 7 Jan. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'offshore.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
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Cite this Entry
“Offshore.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/offshore. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
offshore
1 of 2 adverb
off·shore
ˈȯf-ˈshō(ə)r
-ˈshȯ(ə)r
: from the shore : at a distance from the shore
offshore
2 of 2 adjective
off·shore
ˈȯf-ˌshō(ə)r
-ˌshȯ(ə)r
1
: coming or moving away from the shore
an offshore breeze
2
: located off the shore
offshore islands
an offshore oil rig
More from Merriam-Webster on offshore
Nglish: Translation of offshore for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of offshore for Arabic Speakers
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