write-off
a cancellation from the accounts as a loss.
an uncollectable account.
a reduction in book value; depreciation.
Informal. a person or thing that is given up as hopeless or pointless: Joe's college career is a write-off.
Origin of write-off
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use write-off in a sentence
The Patriot-News admitted this week that it was wrong to write-off the Gettysburg Address 150 years ago.
“The write-off rate of the U.S. lending portfolio (principal only) was 2.0 percent for the quarter,” the company reported.
American Express Charges Backward, Laying Off 5,400 | Daniel Gross | January 11, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST“They obviously are seeking something other than a tax write-off,” he says.
James Cameron and Investors Seek to Lasso and Mine an Asteroid | Vivien Marx | April 24, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
British Dictionary definitions for write off
accounting
to cancel (a bad debt or obsolete asset) from the accounts
to consider (a transaction, etc) as a loss or set off (a loss) against revenues
to depreciate (an asset) by periodic charges
to charge (a specified amount) against gross profits as depreciation of an asset
to cause or acknowledge the complete loss of
to send a written order for (something): she wrote off for a brochure
informal to damage (something, esp a car) beyond repair
accounting
the act of cancelling a bad debt or obsolete asset from the accounts
the bad debt or obsolete asset cancelled
the amount cancelled against gross profits, corresponding to the book value of the bad debt or obsolete asset
informal something damaged beyond repair, esp a car
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with write-off
Reduce an asset's book value to zero because it is worthless, as in The truck was wrecked completely, so we can write it off. [Late 1600s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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