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.
Additionally, the sell-off in memory stocks and hyperscalers’ debt has obscured strength in other sectors, which have seen the benefits of a rotation out of those stocks, they said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
“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
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
Concerns over capital spending, artificial intelligence infrastructure costs, and stubborn interest rates triggered a widespread tech sell-off and hit high-flying technology giants such as Nvidia, Intel, and AMD, particularly hard.
From BBC ● 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
The thought that we would just sell off all of our resorts and just become a season-pass company—well, that would be exactly the wrong moment to even consider that.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 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
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
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.
