fair off

1. Of weather, to become clear or fair. There are going to be thunderstorms in the morning, but it should fair off by midday. Is that the sun? Wow, it was so gloomy this morning that I didn't expect things to fair off today. A: "The weather is going to fair off later, so let's go for a walk then." B: "Yeah, why go out now in the rain?"

2. To make something smooth or flush to a surface. You can use a belt sander to fair off the bumps and blemishes after welding. Today we'll be learning how to fair off the seams on the hull of the boat we're building. You can't paint that area of the wall until you fair off the rough patches.

3. To get along; to fare in some way. Usually used in a comparison between two different situations or environments. ("Fair" in this usage is a misspelling of "fare.") I hope he fairs off better in this new job than he did in his last one. The judge agreed that the defendant would fair off better in rehab than in prison. He would definitely fair off better with structure—it would keep him out of trouble!