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  • pink slip
    pink slip
    noun
    notice of dismissal from one's job.
  • pink-slip
    pink-slip
    verb (used with object)
    to dismiss from a job.
Synonyms

pink slip

1 American  

noun

  1. notice of dismissal from one's job.


pink-slip 2 American  
[pingk-slip] / ˈpɪŋkˈslɪp /

verb (used with object)

pink-slipped, pink-slipping
  1. to dismiss from a job.

    He will be pink-slipped next month.


pink slip British  

noun

  1. informal a notice of redundancy issued to an employee

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of pink slip1

First recorded in 1910–15

Origin of pink-slip2

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The trek to the boss’s office, the tense stares across the desk, the awkward mix of praise and criticism—and the potential for a promotion or a pink slip when it is all over.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

It looks like I’ll be commuting more—but for how long before I, too, get a pink slip without warning or reason?

From Slate • Feb. 3, 2025

“No Highs” is an attempt to give himself a playlist pink slip.

From New York Times • Apr. 25, 2023

So Bill Plaschke has to smear the Bruins’ triumph over hated USC with yet another pink slip?

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2021

She was wearing her pink slip, and it bore no blooms of blood.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor