[Grammar] stare off

[CaseyA]

Does "stare off" mean the same as "stare off into space"

 

[emsr2d2]

Does "stare off" mean the same as "stare off into space"

As usual, it depends on context.

 

[CaseyA]

So "stare off" is short for "stare off into space". Thanks!

 

[5jj]

So "stare off" is short for "stare off into space". Thanks!

That is not what emsr2dt said.

The second example in COCA is: She stared off into the crowd as if looking for someone. There is no staring off into space there.

 

[CaseyA]

The correctness of "stare off into space" is indisputably proven by many dictionaries.
So "stare off" only exists in certain parts of the English speaking world.

 

[5jj]

The correctness of "stare off into space" is indisputably proven by many dictionaries.
So "stare off" only exists in certain parts of the English speaking world.

Stare off is very commonly collocated with into space and into the distance. Nobody has disputed that, though dictionaries do not 'indisputably prove' anything.

Your second sentence, ignoring the misplaced 'only', is just not true.

 

[vil]

What is the staring off into space mean

 

[Rover_KE]

Vil, I cannot see anything helpful in that link.

What point are you making?

Rover

 

[CaseyA]

Stare off is very commonly collocated with into space and into the distance. Nobody has disputed that, though dictionaries do not 'indisputably prove' anything.

Your second sentence, ignoring the misplaced 'only', is just not true.

So "stare off", in the sense of "stare off into space", could never be used by itself?

 

[5jj]

So "stare off", in the sense of "stare off into space", could never be used by itself?

Nobody has said that. That is the second time in this thread that you have jumped to a conclusion that nobody has even implied. COCA gives several examples in which 'stare off' is used in a way that suggests the idea of 'staring off into space.

 

[emsr2d2]

He stared off into space = he looked a long way into the distance, probably thinking hard at the same time, or daydreaming.

He stared off to the left = He looked left

He stared off to the right = He looked right

He stared off to the side of the TV - Instead of looking at the screen he looked to either the left or right.

If you just said "He stared off" not only would that not sound natural, but it wouldn't tell you where or in what manner the person was staring.