Stock Exchange. a sudden and marked decline in stock or bond prices resulting from widespread selling.
an act or instance of liquidating assets or subsidiaries, as by divestiture.
First recorded in 1935–40; noun use of verb phrase sell off
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Its 10% decline for the day so far suggests we’re in the ‘despair’ part of the sell-off, where traders are simply trying to rush to the exit before everyone else.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“We’ve seen some broader profit-taking to start Q3 in July here across tech infrastructure — Tuesday had a pretty steep sell-off for chip equipment, for example,” Morningstar equity analyst William Kerwin told MarketWatch over email.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Asian stock markets fell sharply on Friday, led by a sell-off in technology firms as investors worried that recent jumps in share prices had gone too far.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
South Korean stocks bounced back Wednesday from the previous day's rout, while the rest of Asia battled to recover from a region-wide sell-off amid lingering concern about the AI spending boom.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
To Steve Eisman at FrontPoint Partners, the market seemed mainly stupid or delusional: A financial culture that had experienced so many tiny panics followed by robust booms saw any sell-off as merely another buying opportunity.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
On June 9, the company announced plans to raise $7 billion of equity financing to support a surge in artificial-intelligence server orders, causing the stock to sell off on fears of investor dilution and overspending.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
With the trade deadline on Aug. 2, they could make some moves to improve this season or sell off their veteran assets and attempt to rebuild again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
The Paramount CEO has promised not to sell off assets or cut content spending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Just a few feet away, Bangladeshi street vendors -- also sweating in the heat -- tried to sell off their stock of parasols and pocked-sized electric fans.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
While Penelope fretted, the Acorn’s captain set course for the not-so.distant shore, where he planned to sell off some fish and buy provisions, as well as get rid of his accidental passenger.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
