a precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.; "he put an ice pack on the injury as a precaution"; "an insurance policy is a good safeguard"; "we let our guard down"
concise and full of meaning; "welcomed her pithy comments"; "the peculiarly sardonic and sententious style in which Don Luis composed his epigrams"- Hervey Allen
casually thoughtless or inconsiderate; "an offhand manner"; "she treated most men with offhand contempt"
in a casually inconsiderate manner; "replied offhand, his mind a million miles away"; "she threw him over offhandedly without even a Dear-John letter"
without previous thought or preparation; "couldn't give the figures offhand"; "we decided offhand to go to Canada"; "she had made these remarks offhandedly"
quick and energetic; "a brisk walk in the park"; "a lively gait"; "a merry chase"; "traveling at a rattling rate"; "a snappy pace"; "a spanking breeze"