sign-off
noun
the act or fact of signing off.
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sign-off
American
[sahyn-awf, -of]
/ ˈsaɪnˌɔf, -ˌɒf /
Or
signoff
noun
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the act or fact of signing off.
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personal approval or authorization; endorsement.
sign off
British
verb
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(intr) to announce the end of a radio or television programme, esp at the end of a day
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(intr) bridge to make a conventional bid indicating to one's partner that one wishes the bidding to stop
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(tr) to withdraw or retire from (an activity)
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(tr) (of a doctor) to declare (someone) unfit for work, because of illness
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(intr) to terminate one's claim to unemployment benefit
sign off
Idioms
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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]
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Stop talking, become silent, as in Every time the subject of marriage came up, Harold signed off . [ Colloquial ; mid-1900s]
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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.
Congress created the fund in 1956 so that lawmakers wouldn’t need to sign off on individual payouts after court judgments against the government.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
This month, city officials declined to sign off on even the scaled-back ban -- postponing the decision to June and throwing its planned July 1 implementation into question.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
“I think a lot of people, when they go on vacation, they totally sign off and disconnect, but he stays connected.”
From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026
Rather than sign off on the deal, both the show’s executive producer and CBS News’ CEO resigned.
From Salon • May 13, 2026
I’m very tired now and I must go to sleep and I want to put this into the letterbox tomorrow morning, so I’ll sign off now and write you another letter soon.
From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
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.
