set-off

See also: setoff and set off

English

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set-off (law)

Wikipedia

set-off (plural set-offs)

(dated) Something used to improve the appearance; a decoration, an ornament. [from 17th c.]
The act of setting off on a journey; a departure, a start. [from 18th c.]
(law) A counterclaim; a distinct claim filed or set up by the defendant against the plaintiff's demand. [from 18th c.]
(generally) Anything set off against another thing; a compensation, a counterbalancing circumstance. [from 18th c.]
- D. Jerrold
  I do not contemplate such a heroine as a set-off to the many sins imputed to me as committed against woman.
- 1921, Montagu Lomax, The Experiences of an Asylum Doctor, London: Allen & Unwin, page 193:
  [A]ll of them, of whatever age, require opportunities for rest and reading and indoor amusements, as a set-off against the constant strain on mind and body of looking after lunatics.
(finance) The situation where a bank or similar organisation repays itself money owed by an accountholder out of his or her account.
(printing) An offset.

In the legal sense, set-off differs from recoupment: the latter generally grows out of the same matter or contract with the plaintiff's claim, while the former grows out of distinct matter, and does not of itself deny the justice of the plaintiff's demand.

extinction of debts of which two persons are reciprocally debtors