offing

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: of=fing

CIDE DICTIONARY

offing, n. [From Off.].

 That part of the sea at a good distance from the shore, or where there is deep water and no need of a pilot; also, distance from the shore; as, the ship had ten miles offing; we saw a ship in the offing.  [1913 Webster]

in the offing (a) coming; arriving in the foreseeable future. (b) visible but not nearby.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

offing, n. the more distant part of the sea in view.

Idiom

in the offing not far away; likely to appear or happen soon.

Etymology

perh. f. OFF + -ING(1)

THESAURUS

offing

aftertime, afteryears, background, by-and-by, course ahead, crystal ball, determinism, distant future, eventuality, expectation, foresight, forward look, future, future tense, futurism, futurity, hereafter, horizon, immediate future, immediate prospect, imminence, near future, outlook, posteriority, prediction, probability, project, prophecy, prospect, remote distance, the distance, the future, the morrow, the sweet by-and-by, time ahead, time just ahead, time to come, tomorrow, vanishing point

ROGET THESAURUS

offing

Distance

N distance, space, remoteness, farness, far- cry to, longinquity, elongation, offing, background, remote region, removedness, parallax, reach, span, stride, outpost, outskirt, horizon, aphelion, foreign parts, ultima Thule, ne plus ultra, antipodes, long range, giant's stride, dispersion, length, cosmic distance, light-years, distant, far off, far away, remote, telescopic, distal, wide of, stretching to, yon, yonder, ulterior, transmarine, transpontine, transatlantic, transalpine, tramontane, ultramontane, ultramundane, hyperborean, antipodean, inaccessible, out of the way, unapproached, unapproachable, incontiguous, far off, far away, afar, afar off, off, away, a long way off, a great way off, a good way off, wide away, aloof, wide of, clear of, out of the way, out of reach, abroad, yonder, farther, further, beyond, outre mer, over the border, far and wide, over the hills and far away, from pole to pole, to the uttermost parts, to the ends of the earth, out of hearing, nobody knows where, a perte de vue, out of the sphere of, wide of the mark, a far cry to, apart, asunder, wide apart, wide asunder, longo intervallo, at arm's length, distance lends enchantment, it's a long long way to Tipperary, out of sight, out of mind.

Ocean

N sea, ocean, main, deep, brine, salt water, waves, billows, high seas, offing, great waters, watery waste, vasty deep, wave, tide, hydrography, hydrographer, Neptune, Poseidon, Thetis, Triton, Naiad, Nereid, sea nymph, Siren, trident, dolphin, oceanic, marine, maritime, pelagic, pelagian, seagoing, hydrographic, bathybic, cotidal, at sea, on sea, afloat.