sign-off
noun
the act or fact of signing off.
sign-off
American
[sahyn-awf, -of]
/ ˈsaɪnˌɔf, -ˌɒf /
Or
signoff
noun
-
the act or fact of signing off.
-
personal approval or authorization; endorsement.
sign off
British
verb
-
(intr) to announce the end of a radio or television programme, esp at the end of a day
-
(intr) bridge to make a conventional bid indicating to one's partner that one wishes the bidding to stop
-
(tr) to withdraw or retire from (an activity)
-
(tr) (of a doctor) to declare (someone) unfit for work, because of illness
-
(intr) to terminate one's claim to unemployment benefit
sign off
Idioms
-
Announce the end of a communication, especially a broadcast. For example, There's no one there now; the station has signed off for the night . [c. 1920]
-
Stop talking, become silent, as in Every time the subject of marriage came up, Harold signed off . [ Colloquial ; mid-1900s]
-
Express approval formally or conclusively, as in The President got the majority leader to sign off on the tax proposal . This usage is colloquial.
Etymology
Origin of sign-off
First recorded in 1925–30; noun use of verb phrase sign 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:
"I understand there's been a sign-off, but I don't know what they agreed," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The company is pursuing a $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. that requires sign-off from Trump’s own Justice Department.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
But the federal sign-off does not end the deal's legal peril.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The acquisition still requires sign-off from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Minister of Finance, but Holden says this shouldn’t derail an end-of-year closing timeline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Her sign-off was “Join me next week, because y’all know life can get messy.”
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
So you need to make a rule outside of this argument: You both sign off on big-ticket decisions.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
Ultimately, the board of directors had to sign off on Adelkoff’s vacation payout, apartment and car.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
State lawmakers worked up a bill but wanted the county to sign off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
He said one of the reasons the book is called Swan Song is because it is his "sign off" as Diana's brother and "final take on the situation".
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
According to some legal mucky-muck, both of my parents have to sign off on my staying with anyone else but one of them.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
