"he took offence at my question"
"a long record of crimes"
1.违法行为；罪行
Anoffence is a crime that breaks a particular law and requires a particular punishment.
e.g. Thirteen people have been charged with treason — anoffence which can carry the death penalty...
13人被控犯有叛国罪——一种可处死刑的罪行。
e.g. In Britain the Consumer Protection Act makes it a criminaloffence to sell goods that are unsafe.
英国的《消费者保护法》规定销售不安全物品属刑事犯罪行为。
2.冒犯；得罪
offence or anoffence is behaviour which causes people to be upset or embarrassed.
e.g. The book might be published without creating offense...
出版这本书可能不会引起人们的反感。
e.g. Privilege determined by birth is anoffence to any modern sense of justice.
与生俱来的特权是对现代公正意识的亵渎。
3.（体育运动中的）进攻队，进攻方
In sports such as American football or basketball,the offense is the team which has possession of the ball and is trying to score.
offence的翻译
e.g. Between plays the coach was talking to the offense in the huddle.
中场时，这位教练对围拢一圈的进攻队员进行战术指导。
4.冒犯；得罪；惹恼
If youcause offence orgive offence to someone, you say or do something rude which upsets or embarrasses them.
e.g. It says the photograph is likely cause distress andoffence to the public...
上面说这张照片可能引起公众的忧虑和反感。
e.g. We have had our differences and I'm sorry if it has causedoffence.
我们有过一些分歧，如有得罪我很抱歉。
5.别见怪；无冒犯之意
Some people say 'no offence' to make it clear that they do not want to upset you, although what they are saying may seem rather rude.
offence的解释
e.g. Dad, you need a bath. Nooffence.
爸爸，别见怪，不过你该洗澡了。
6.（常指不必要地）(对…)生气，(因…)见怪
If someonetakes offence at something you say or do, they feel upset, often unnecessarily, because they think you are being rude to them.
e.g. She never takesoffence at anything...
什么事都不会让她生气。
e.g. Never had she seen him so tense, so quick to takeoffence as he had been in recent weeks.
她从未见过他像最近几周这样高度紧张，动不动就生气。
1. 冒犯：使用这个词可以避免使用其他字眼儿而冒犯(offence)对方. 例如,你使用lover一词,而对方心里却一直当作boyfriend/girlfriend的,这种情况下对方就很可能觉得你的说法不妥(inappropriate). 在美国,婚礼和聚会邀请函时常用到这个词.
