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  • sell-off
    sell-off
    noun
    a sudden and marked decline in stock or bond prices resulting from widespread selling.
  • sell off
    sell off
    verb
    (tr, adverb) to sell (remaining or unprofitable items), esp at low prices
Synonyms

sell-off

American  
[sel-awf, -of] / ˈsɛlˌɔf, -ˌɒf /
Sometimes selling-off

noun

  1. Stock Exchange. a sudden and marked decline in stock or bond prices resulting from widespread selling.

  2. an act or instance of liquidating assets or subsidiaries, as by divestiture.


sell off British  

verb

  1. (tr, adverb) to sell (remaining or unprofitable items), esp at low prices

"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

sell off Idioms  
  1. Get rid of by selling, often at reduced prices. For example, The jeweler was eager to sell off the last of the diamond rings. [c. 1700] Also see sell out, def. 1.


Etymology

Origin of sell-off

First recorded in 1935–40; noun use of verb phrase sell off


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.

See Examples For:

Fifa president Gianni Infantino insists he has the backing of the "vast, vast majority" of world football, as he laughed off questions about whether he had considered resigning over the World Cup sell-off debacle.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

That’s the observation of Stuart Kaiser, head of U.S. equity trading strategy at Citi, who in a note published late Thursday said the sell-off does not yet offer a buyable dip.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

It gained global attention in January 2025 with the release of its R1 deep-reasoning large language model, which sparked a US tech share sell-off.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

Sectors impacted in the August-September sell-off were IT services, non-banking financial companies and staples despite solid 1QFY27 earnings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Mr. Van Dyke and Dad went to the union hall and sat around the table to inform the union leaders about the sell-off.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Stocks already under pressure sell off even further, while other companies’ stocks are sold just for those tax-loss strategies.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

Opera originally planned to carefully cut the curtain into pieces at the end of the season and sell off sections in order to raise funds, but that idea is in flux.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

The firms downsize staff and sell off parts of the purchased company to create dividends, all while charging the purchased corporation management fees for their trouble.

From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026

Palantir Technologies stock paces toward its worst day since February as Palo Alto Networks and other sector peers sell off.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

The only way to raise money was to sell off the two things of value they owned—land or enslaved workers, their most valuable “property.”

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

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