How to Use branch off in a Sentence

branch off

phrasal verb
  • Other, smaller trails branch off as the series of 11 switchbacks climbs the face of the cliff.
    oregonlive, 8 May 2023
  • The burn travels to your chest and then branches off sideways.
    Megan Farrer, Dallas News, 14 Sep. 2023
  • The branch of the tree which led to bears, dogs, and seals emerged tens of millions of years ago; primates branched off the tree many millions of years after that.
    Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 17 July 2023
  • Several other tombs branch off the same rock-cut patio.
    Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 14 Feb. 2024
  • If ctenophores branched off before sponges in the tree of life, that suggests one of two scenarios for neuron evolution.
    Cara Giovanetti, Scientific American, 4 Jan. 2024
  • Its galleries branch off from the canyon-like atrium, accessible by bridges and visible through gaping holes that evoke the mouths of caves.
    Carolyn Hagler, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 May 2023
  • The truck gathering will branch off and hold rallies in Arizona, California and Texas, the press release said.
    Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 28 Jan. 2024
  • The Khoisan bushmen of southern Africa, for example, have genes that branched off from all other human lineages long ago.
    Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 24 Mar. 2010
  • This period of rapid change began after humans branched off from chimpanzees, making the results of the changes unique to humans.
    Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 28 Aug. 2023
  • She is inspired by her dad’s film work Sistine has branched off from modeling and moved more into her dad’s realm as she's gotten older.
    Emy Lacroix, Peoplemag, 25 Oct. 2023
  • Those will be joined by a tunnel, which branches off into the underground bunker, which has a living space and a mechanical room, as well as an escape hatch.
    Chris Morris, Fortune, 29 Jan. 2024
  • Typically, it is installed close to your water shut off valve in a horizontal pipe that is in line with your existing plumbing, before the pipes branch off to the rest of the home.
    Andrea Wurzburger, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Nov. 2023
  • Future installments in the franchise would decide that single timelines are boring and branch off too many universes to keep track of.
    Jennifer Ouellette and Sean M. Carroll, Ars Technica, 24 Nov. 2023
  • That point in time would mark the origins of English and German as distinct languages, branching off from a common proto-Germanic language.
    Lucy Tu, Scientific American, 24 Aug. 2023
  • To do so, the researchers relied on lineages that branched off from fish early in their history, like the gar, which has heavily armored scales and belongs to a lineage that originated in the Jurassic.
    John Timmer, Ars Technica, 18 July 2023
  • If the common ancestor lacked neurons, and neurons in most animals arose after ctenophores and sponges had already branched off, then the neurons in ctenophores must have evolved independently.
    Cara Giovanetti, Scientific American, 4 Jan. 2024
  • The story branches off in some depressing ways depending on whether Link canonically succeeds, dies by Ganon’s hand, or somewhere in between.
    Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Conventional wisdom holds that these radiations started out with small animals that then evolved, branched off, and grew larger.
    Matt Hrodey, Discover Magazine, 1 Nov. 2023
  • Spurs branching off the main trail would provide options for reaching into population centers, such as Benton, Alexander and Bauxite.
    Josh Snyder, Arkansas Online, 31 July 2023
  • Scientists have discovered which animal was the first to branch off from our collective common ancestor.
    Jackie Appel, Popular Mechanics, 9 June 2023
  • The plans show that the two central mansions will be joined by a tunnel that branches off into a 5,000-square-foot underground shelter, featuring living space, a mechanical room, and an escape hatch that can be accessed via a ladder.
    Guthrie Scrimgeour, WIRED, 14 Dec. 2023
  • Meanwhile, as multituberculates prospered, three other groups quietly branched off on their own.
    Steve Brusatte, Scientific American, 1 June 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'branch off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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