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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

foist off en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To fraudulently or disingenuously pass (goods, or ideas) on to.
    • I used to think New Yorkers invented trends and foisted them off on a gullible nation but weren't themselves […] 2018, Edmund White, The Unpunished Vice: A Life of Reading:
    • She was talking big, but the Haruhi of last year would've forced people to attend an explanatory lecture about the brigade, printed huge numbers of flyers, and foisted them off on absolutely everybody. 2013, Nagaru Tanigawa, The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya:
  2. To get rid of (something unwanted) by giving it to someone else.
    • When Zeytuna didn't want to do her chores, she foisted them off on Lidya, who'd spent years being her caregiver and took over without a whisper of complaint. 2014, Mary Ostyn, Forever Mom: What to Expect When You're Adopting, page 92:
    • Countries with export surpluses foisted them off by bounties or placed them through unilateral agreements. 2017, Broadus Mitchell, The Depression Decade, page 182:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
foisted off Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
foisted off Tense=Past lexicographic
foisting off Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
foists off Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Relateds

fob off