off the record

re·cord  (r-kôrd)

v. re·cord·ed, re·cord·ing, re·cords

v.tr.

1. To set down for preservation in writing or other permanent form.

2. To register or indicate: The clerk recorded the votes.

3.

a. To register (sound or images) in permanent form by mechanical or electrical means for reproduction.

b. To register the words, sound, appearance, or performance of by such means: recorded the oldest townspeople on tape; recorded the violin concerto.

v.intr.

To record something.

n. rec·ord (rkrd)

1.

a. An account, as of information or facts, set down especially in writing as a means of preserving knowledge.

b. Something on which such an account is based.

c. Something that records: a fossil record.

2. Information or data on a particular subject collected and preserved: the coldest day on record.

3. The known history of performance, activities, or achievement: your academic record; hampered by a police record.

4. An unsurpassed measurement: a world record in weightlifting; a record for cold weather.

5. Computer Science A collection of related, often adjacent items of data, treated as a unit.

6. Law

a. An account officially written and preserved as evidence or testimony.

b. An account of judicial or legislative proceedings written and preserved as evidence.

c. The documents or volumes containing such evidence.

7.

a. A disk designed to be played on a phonograph.

b. Something, such as magnetic tape, on which sound or visual images have been recorded.

Idioms:

go on record

To embrace a certain position publicly: go on record in favor of the mayor's reelection.

off the record

Not for publication: The senator told the reporters that his remarks were strictly off the record.

on record

Known to have been stated or to have taken a certain position: The senator's opposition to the new legislation is on record.

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[Middle English recorden, from Old French recorder, from Latin recordr, to remember : re-, re- + cor, cord-, heart; see kerd- in Indo-European roots.]

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off the record

adj (off-the-record when prenominal)

not intended for publication or disclosure; confidential

adv

with such an intention; unofficially

Thesaurus

Adv.

1.

off the record - not for quotation; "he spoke to the reporter off the record"