to come off

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

To occur, to take place, as "my holiday didn't come off after all.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “to come off” mean?

To occur, to take place, as "my holiday didn't come off after all.

Is “to come off” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.