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.
They expect shares to rebound after the initial sell-off, which they see as headline-driven.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 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
Asian currencies consolidated against the dollar in early trade, but may be weighed by risk-off sentiment spurred by the overnight sell-off in tech stocks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
They disagree on whether this sell-off is merely a healthy, temporary pause or the start of a much larger retreat for tech investments.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 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
That’s why tech stocks sometimes sell off along with bond prices when there’s a strong jobs report.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 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
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
All of those potential stock reactions are likely to be short lived though, and if the overall market and semiconductors sell off due to the export restrictions, both pullbacks would be a “buying opportunity.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
But before the Revolution, he once organized a lottery—a raffle—to sell off some enslaved people.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
