sell-off

1 of 2

noun

: a usually sudden sharp decline in security prices accompanied by increased volume of trading

sell off

2 of 2

verb

sold off; selling off; sells off

intransitive verb

: to suffer a drop in prices

Examples of sell-off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The sell-off marks a massive fall from grace for the shoe company, which began as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) fashion brand before opening brick-and-mortar locations. Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 3 Apr. 2026 The surge marked the end of the sell-off that began in late February over uncertainty regarding the president's trade policy. Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 3 Apr. 2026
Verb
Oil prices are spiking on threats to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency reported will be used as a toll and blocked off to Israel, and American stocks sold off last week and again on Monday. Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2026 Stocks including former leaders Micron Technology and Sandisk started selling off at the end of last week, but losses accelerated this week after Google unveiled a new compression technique , dubbed TurboQuant, that could cut memory requirements for AI large language models sixfold. Yun Li, CNBC, 27 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for sell-off

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1976, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1976, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sell-off was in 1976

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sell-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sell-off. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on sell-off

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster