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
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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]
-
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:
Onigbinde listed the checks a genuine agency must go through - an office in the federal secretariat, sign-off from the civil service, a budget code, and a multi-step approval to open a bank account.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 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
“There are some backdoor paths to closing the deal while still litigating with the states over their concerns. But there is no way to move forward without the sign-off from regulators in Europe.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
This was always her sign-off line when I was alone and on the loose in sunny California.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Still, there could be a race to the finish line, as the German parliament's budget committee still needs to sign off on Berlin's stake acquisition in the coming days.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
"No-one can explain what the feeling is like of having to take a baby seat out of your car or to take the 'baby on board' sign off the back before driving home," said Conor.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Trump had been weighing whether to sign off on it.
From MarketWatch ● May 29, 2026
If Congress does not sign off on the money, Trump said the “White House won’t be a very secure place.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
My brother, as promised, had managed to get a teacher to sign off on the whole breakdancing thing.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
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.
