: 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
Recent Examples on the Web
Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
Both of those valuation peaks preceded steep sell-offs for stocks.
—Jesse Pound, CNBC, 21 Jan. 2025
Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 28 Jan. 2025
ByteDance has maintained a strong resistance to selling off TikTok, especially a sale including its recommendation algorithm.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 27 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for sell-off 
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Noun
There was a fairly broad sell-off in both markets, less so because of Trump’s AI infrastructure effort called Stargate, which was cited for the outperformance of technology hardware and semiconductor stocks.
—Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
Both of those valuation peaks preceded steep sell-offs for stocks.
—Jesse Pound, CNBC, 21 Jan. 2025
Verb
The power stocks most exposed to artificial intelligence sold off steeply Monday, as some investors fear that models developed in China could prove more energy efficient, potentially undermining the thesis that electricity demand in the U.S. will surge as the tech sector builds out data centers.
—Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 28 Jan. 2025
ByteDance has maintained a strong resistance to selling off TikTok, especially a sale including its recommendation algorithm.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 27 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for sell-off
Dictionary Entries Near sell-off
Cite this Entry
“Sell-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sell-off. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.
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