Definition of "offense"

The act of offending.

1. A crime or sin.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The slave fully appreciates the saying, "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." When old master's gestures were violent, ending with a threatening shake of the head, and a sharp snap of his middle finger and thumb, I deemed it wise to keep at a respectable distance from him; for, at such times, trifling faults stood, in his eyes, as momentous offenses; and, having both the power and the disposition, the victim had only to be near him to catch the punishment, deserved or undeserved.

     1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […]

   • The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.

     2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion‎

2. An affront, injury, or insult.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Thus I have ventur'd to give my Opinion on this Subject againſt the Authority of two great men, but I hope without offence either to their Memories, for I both lov'd them living, and reverence them now they are dead.

     1681, John Dryden, “The Preface to Ovid’s Epistles”, in Ovid, Ovid’s Epistles, […], 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], page 26

The state of being offended or displeased; anger; displeasure.  examples

(team sports) A strategy and tactics employed when in position to score; contrasted with defense.  examples

(team sports) The portion of a team dedicated to scoring when in position to do so; contrasted with defense.  examples