of·fence (?-f?ns?)n. Chiefly British Variant of offense.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.offence (??f?ns) or offensen1. a violation or breach of a law, custom, rule, etc2. a. any public wrong or crimeb. a nonindictable crime punishable on summary conviction3. annoyance, displeasure, or resentment4. give offence give offence to someone to cause annoyance or displeasure to someone5. take offence to feel injured, humiliated, or offended6. a source of annoyance, displeasure, or anger7. (Military) attack; assault8. archaic injury or harm9. (American Football) the offense (??f?ns) American football a. the team that has possession of the ballb. the members of a team that play in such circumstances of?fenceless, of?fenseless adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014