I would I could do a good office between you.
--Shak.
2. A special duty, trust, charge, or position, conferred by
authority and for a public purpose; a position of trust or
authority; as, an executive or judical office; a municipal
office.
3. A charge or trust, of a sacred nature, conferred by God
himself; as, the office of a priest under the old
dispensation, and that of the apostles in the new.
Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I
magnify mine office. --Rom. xi. 13.
4. That which is performed, intended, or assigned to be done,
by a particular thing, or that which anything is fitted to
perform; a function; -- answering to duty in intelligent
beings.
They [the eyes] resign their office and their light.
--Shak.
Hesperus, whose office is to bring Twilight upon the
earth. --Milton.
In this experiment the several intervals of the
teeth of the comb do the office of so many prisms.
--Sir I.
Newton.
5. The place where a particular kind of business or service
for others is transacted; a house or apartment in which
public officers and others transact business; as, the
register's office; a lawyer's office.
6. The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose
place of business is in an office; as, I have notified the
office.
7. pl. The apartments or outhouses in which the domestics
discharge the duties attached to the service of a house,
as kitchens, pantries, stables, etc. [Eng.]
As for the offices, let them stand at distance.
--Bacon.
8. (Eccl.) Any service other than that of ordination and the
Mass; any prescribed religious service.
This morning was read in the church, after the
office was done, the declaration setting forth the
late conspiracy against the king's person. --Evelyn.
{Holy office}. Same as {Inquisition}, n., 3.
{Houses of office}. Same as def. 7 above. --Chaucer.
{Little office} (R.C.Ch.), an office recited in honor of the
Virgin Mary.
{Office bearer}, an officer; one who has a specific office or
duty to perform.
{Office copy} (Law), an authenticated or certified copy of a
record, from the proper office. See {Certified copies},
under {Copy}. --Abbott.
{Office-found} (Law), the finding of an inquest of office.
See under {Inquest}.
{Office holder}. See {Officeholder} in the Vocabulary