write off

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See also: writeoff and write-off

English

Pronunciation

Verb

write off (third-person singular simple present writes off, present participle writing off, simple past wrote off, past participle written off)

  1. (accounting, transitive) To reduce the book value of (an asset) to zero.
    Coordinate term: write down
  2. (accounting, transitive) To record (an expenditure) as an expense.
    Coordinate term: write down
  3. (accounting, transitive) To remove a portion of a debt or an amount of an account owed, counting it as a loss (as a gesture of goodwill for example).
    Coordinate terms: forgive, forgo
  4. (accounting) To record a notional expense such as amortization or depreciation.
  5. To treat as a write-off, a total loss, especially something damaged beyond economic repair.
    • 2020 May 20, “Fleet News: Collision-damaged '800' at Wolverton”, in Rail, page 25:
      The '800' received substantial collision damage, while the High Speed Train power car was written off.
  6. (figurative, transitive) To assign a low value to (somebody or something).
    Coordinate terms: discount, dismiss, disregard
    When Katya was injured, he wrote off the team's chances in the finals.
    • 2001 July 24, Jimmy Eat World (lyrics and music), “The Middle”, in Bleed American, DreamWorks, →OCLC:
      Hey, don't write yourself off yet / It's only in your head, you feel left out
    • 2015 August 16, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian:
      They have shown their staying power before and it would be daft to write them off but it must be disturbing, nonetheless, for Mourinho that his team are five points behind already and locked in a game of catch-up against the side that has just subjected them to a rare, old-fashioned beating.

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