: a usually sudden sharp decline in security prices accompanied by increased volume of trading
sold off; selling off; sells off
: to suffer a drop in prices
Examples of sell-off in a Sentence
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Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 26 Feb. 2026
That has led to sudden and swift sell-offs for stocks seen as potentially under threat, and spasms have rolled through industries as seemingly disparate as software, trucking logistics and legal services.
—Stan Choe, Fortune, 26 Feb. 2026
Josh Funk, Fortune, 18 Feb. 2026
If silver dips sharply, profit margins can compress quickly, and stocks can sell off hard.
—Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sell-off
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Noun
The stock has plummeted more than 25% this year, swept up amid a broader software sell-off as fears of artificial intelligence disruption have trampled the industry.
—Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 26 Feb. 2026
That has led to sudden and swift sell-offs for stocks seen as potentially under threat, and spasms have rolled through industries as seemingly disparate as software, trucking logistics and legal services.
—Stan Choe, Fortune, 26 Feb. 2026
Verb
Six years after Warren Buffett sold off all of Berkshire Hathaway’s newspapers and predicted unending declines for most of the industry, Berkshire disclosed a new $350 million investment in The New York Times on Tuesday.
—Josh Funk, Fortune, 18 Feb. 2026
If silver dips sharply, profit margins can compress quickly, and stocks can sell off hard.
—Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sell-off
Cite this Entry
“Sell-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sell-off. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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