Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Offence
1.
The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury.
Who was delivered for our
offenses
, and was raised again for our justification. Rom. iv. 25.
I have given my opinion against the authority of two great men, but I hope without
offense
to their memories. Dryden.
2.
The state of being offended or displeased; anger; displeasure;
as, to cause
. offense
He was content to give them just cause of
offense
, when they had power to make just revenge. Sir P. Sidney.
3.
A cause or occasion of stumbling or of sin.
[Obs.]
Woe to that man by whom the
offense
cometh! Matt. xviii. 7.
☞ This word, like expense, is often spelled with a c. It ought, however, to undergo the same change with expense, the reasons being the same, namely, that s must be used in offensive as in expensive, and is found in the Latin offensio, and the French offense.
To take offense
, to feel, or assume to be, injured or affronted; to become angry or hostile.
– Weapons of offense
, those which are used in attack, in distinction from those of defense, which are used to repel.
Syn. – Displeasure; umbrage; resentment; misdeed; misdemeanor; trespass; transgression; delinquency; fault; sin; crime; affront; indignity; outrage; insult.