Meaning & use
stop off
Last updated
Meaning
verbintransitive
to make a short break in a journey, usually to rest, eat, or visit someone.
Grammar: No object; often followed by at or in: We stopped off at a café.
Patterns
- stop off at a place
- stop off in a city
- stop off to do something
- stop off for a short time
On the drive to Scotland, we stopped off at a small village for lunch.
I usually stop off at the gym on my way home from work.
They stopped off in Paris for two nights before flying to Rome.
Word forms
| third person singular | stops off |
|---|---|
| past tense | stopped off |
| past participle | stopped off |
| -ing form | stopping off |
Common combinations
- stop off at a shop
- Can we stop off at a shop to buy some water?
- stop off for a coffee
- We stopped off for a coffee before the meeting.
- stop off on the way
- Let's stop off on the way and stretch our legs.
- stop off to see someone
- I stopped off to see my grandmother on Sunday.
Synonyms and how they differ
- break your journey
- A more formal phrase that means the same but is less common in everyday speech.
- pause
- To pause is to stop for a moment; stop off suggests a planned short stay during a longer trip.
Word family
- stopover noun
- A short stay during a journey, especially by plane.
Commonly confused: stop off or stop by?
stop off vs stop by
Stop by means to visit someone or somewhere briefly, often without a longer journey; stop off is used for a break during a trip.
Practice
We were driving to the coast and decided to ______ at a little town for lunch.
Choose one answer.
Stop off fits because it means a short break during a journey. Stop up means to stay up late, stop by means to visit briefly, and stop over usually means to stay overnight during a flight.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stop off”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.