US /ˈɔːfəl/ UK /ˈɒfəl/
noun Freq #43047

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    the edible internal organs and other trimmings of a butchered animal

    The cook braised the offal slowly with onions and herbs.

  2. 2
    noun

    waste or by-product left from a manufacturing or agricultural process, especially grain milling

    The mill sold its grain offal as feed for livestock.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · the edible internal organs... organ meatvariety meatinnards
2 noun · waste or by-product left... refusewasteby-product
Word family
Forms offals
Derived forms offally
Related forms gibletssweetbreadentrailscarriontrimmings

Etymology

From Middle English offal, literally material that 'falls off' when something is cut or processed, from off + fall. The older broad sense 'scraps or refuse from a process' narrowed in butchery to discarded or edible organs and trimmings; compare Dutch afval, 'waste.'

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