I do not contemplate such a heroine as a set-off to the many sins imputed to me as committed against woman.D. Jerrold.
☞ Set-off differs from recoupment, as the latter generally grows out of the same matter or contract with the plaintiff's claim, while the former grows out of distinct matter, and does not of itself deny the justice of the plaintiff's demand. Offset is sometimes improperly used for the legal term set- off. See Recoupment.
Syn. -- Set-off, Offset. -- Offset originally denoted that which branches off or projects, as a shoot from a tree, but the term has long been used in America in the sense of set-off. This use is beginning to obtain in England; though Macaulay uses set-off, and so, perhaps, do a majority of English writers.