Meaning of noises off | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Sound effects produced offstage.
   plural, plural-only
2. Something occurring on the margins or periphery of a given event, situation etc.
   broadly, plural, plural-only

Examples

“A separate section is given to this subject because as a rule the importance of noises off is badly underestimated in the amateur theatre.”

“The political situation after the Year V elections developed into a war of position between rival factions, with muffled insurrectionary noises off supplied by bellicose neo-Jacobins and sabre-rattling royalists.”

“Amazing, given the gravity of those, that noises-off to the main event continue to be bleatings by the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries […] who have now put five times more effort into greasing up to Boris Johnson than they ever did into public service.”

CEFR level