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)
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(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
But the federal sign-off does not end the deal's legal peril.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The sign-off came despite considerable legal issues surrounding the deal.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
“A Portrait of the Artist” bears two sign-off dates: “Dublin, 1904 / Trieste, 1914.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Her sign-off was “Join me next week, because y’all know life can get messy.”
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
The Justice Department moved fast to sign off on it, as have many international territories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Dearden said that Local Government Secretary Steve Reed had written to councils encouraging them to sign off on pubs staying open late enough that fans can watch to the end of the match.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
The European Parliament is set on Tuesday to give a final sign off to implement a tariff deal with the United States as it seeks to close a volatile chapter of transatlantic trade relations.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Trump had been weighing whether to sign off on it.
From MarketWatch ● May 29, 2026
“Mrs. Gilner, you have to sign off for Craig on that decision,” the doctor says.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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.
