Radio and Television. the opening salutation, station identification, etc., at the beginning of the broadcast day.
an act or instance of signing on.
(tr) to hire or employ
(intr) to commit oneself to a job, activity, etc
(intr) to register as unemployed with the Department of Social Security
Enlist oneself as an employee, as in Arthur decided to sign on with the new software company . [Late 1800s]
Begin radio or television broadcasting, especially at the beginning of the day, as in What time does the station sign on? [c. 1920]
First recorded in 1880–85; noun use of verb phrase sign on
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To offset lost compensation from Pfizer, Nike will also pay him a one-time cash sign-on bonus of $7.25 million.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Koepka won $34.3 million in prize money during his time at LIV, which is separate from his undisclosed sign-on fee.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 12, 2026
Across the 2023-24 season, Liverpool closed 100,000 fake accounts, and believe new preventative measures including multi-factor authentication, single sign-on and the implementation of more advanced fraud analysis tools, have made a difference.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025
During the campaign, almost 10,000 faculty and staff at UC San Diego received four emails at about a weekly interval prompting them to change their single sign-on password.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 1, 2024
"We'd all have to sign-on for a month, though."
From The Adventure Club Afloat by Barbour, Ralph Henry
The sign on the tennis courts read 'no bikes and no skateboards'.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
She is expected to sign on with CNN competitor MS NOW, according to people familiar with her plans who were not authorized to comment publicly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
I had a sign on my wall when I was a high school teacher that said, “Read critically, write consciously, speak clearly, tell your truth.”
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2026
Iran ultimately agreed to sign on to the terms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
“I think we should put a For Sale sign on Elaine’s house,” she said.
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
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.
