branch off
To split or move away from something. Don't worry, you can stay on Main Street for now—the street you need to turn on to branches off of Main Street. The subclavian artery branches off from the aorta. Be careful, that trail branches off into a few smaller ones that are pretty overgrown and treacherous.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
branch off (from something)
to separate off from something; to divide away from something. A small stream branched off from the main channel. An irrigation ditch branched off here and there.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
branch off
Diverge, subdivide, as in
It's the house on the left, just after the road branches off, or
English and Dutch branched off from an older parent language, West Germanic. This term alludes to a tree's growth pattern, in which branches grow in separate directions from the main trunk. [Second half of 1800s] Also see
branch out.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
branch off
v.1. To separate from a main road or path and follow a smaller one: Take a left where the main trail branches off onto a footpath.
2. To separate from a primary source or origin and move or develop in a different direction: After we discovered a new species of insect, some members of our research team branched off and are studying it. A new political group has branched off from the old party.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.