English

Alternative forms

• off-base, offbase

Prepositional phrase

off base

1. (not comparable, US) Situated or happening outside the boundaries of a military base.
   • 2009, Bill Maze, "Bill would expand off-base housing options," 21 Sep. (retrieved 26 Sep 2010):

     A Virginia lawmaker wants to improve off-base living conditions for enlisted troops with families.

2. (not comparable, baseball, of a baserunner) Positioned somewhere between the bases, and hence vulnerable to being caught out.
   • 1907, Richard Harding Davis, The Congo and Coasts of Africa, ch. 5:

     The hippo heard us, and, like a baseball player caught off base, tried to get back to the river.

3. (comparable, figuratively, of a person) Mistaken; misguided; somewhat wrong in opinion or judgment.
   • 2007, "The Not-Quite Truth About NYC," Newsweek, 27 Nov.:

     But he's off-base in describing the city as having "record crime" until he took office.

4. (comparable, figuratively, of an action, belief, idea, etc) Incorrect or inappropriate; not properly executed, envisioned, or understood.
   • 2007, Bruno Maddox, "Blinded By Science Fictional Reality," Discover, 20 July (retrieved 26 Sep 2010):

     Verne had been dead for 64 years by the time of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 and was thus spared the embarrassment of knowing . . . that part of the rocket would be named “Columbia,” not his own ludicrously off-base suggestion, “Columbiad.”

   • 2010, Kate Pickert, How Health Reform Will Impact Existing Plans," Time, 24 June:

     That partisan rhetoric may be heated, but it's not entirely off base.