let off

phrasal verb

let off; letting off; lets off

1

: to allow (someone) to get off a bus, an airplane, etc.

Could you let me off (the bus) at the next stop, please?

The bus stopped to let off a few passengers.

2

: to allow (someone who has been caught doing something wrong or illegal) to go without being punished

The police officer let her off with just a warning.

They let him off easy/easily/lightly, if you ask me.

3

: to cause (something) to explode or to be released in a forceful way

let off a firecracker

opened the valve to let off pressure

Examples of let off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Public officials at the highest level of government are routinely investigated by the Justice Department, including President Donald Trump during his first term, without prosecutors advancing a claim that they should be let off the hook to attend to government service. —Jake Offenhartz, TIME, 11 Feb. 2025

Viewers are never let off the job, so there is limited motivation to clock in for the next episode. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 9 Jan. 2025

And finally, in January 1972, several dozen people were injured in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh when hundreds of troops across the city let off a fusillade of bullets at a total eclipse of the moon. —Joe Rao, Space.com, 6 Mar. 2025

Each new camera location will have an initial 30-day grace period, during which speeding drivers will be let off with a warning notice in the mail. —Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Feb. 2025

Rhymes for let off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff