sign-outadj.n.
/ˈsʌɪnaʊt/, U.S. /ˈsaɪnˌaʊt/ A. adj. (attributive).
Relating to the action of signing out from a place, or of recording the removal of something by signing it out.
ΚΠ
1921 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 7 Jan. 10/3 Fourteen of the freshmen and scrubs are included on the official signout list.
1940 Phylon 1 225 Conversation prevalent in the sign-out rooms..dwelt upon the disadvantages and hardships, low wages and lack of tips of Pullman porters.
1988 N. Baker Mezzanine iv. 28 I walked to Tina's cube, on the outside wall of which was the sign-out board.
1996 B. Helgeland & C. Hanson L.A. Confidential (film script) (Yellow Review pages) 110 (stage direct.) Files are everywhere. Exley flips through old duty rosters. Sign out sheets on patrol cars.
2003 National Post (Canada) (Nexis) 14 July al5 There was panic in his eyes as he approached the sign-out desk. But the kindly librarian took pity on him.
B. n.
The action or an act of signing out (or signing another out) from a place, esp. a hospital or similar institution; the time when this is done. Also: the signature of a person who has signed out (or signed another out).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > [noun] > recording departure
sign-out1937
1937 Trans. Amer. Hosp. Assoc. 39 402 There was a two per cent increase in regular discharges and a two per cent decrease in sign-outs.
1968 ‘G. Bagby’ Another Day vii. 142 I looked at the later sign-outs. Those covered the mob of cleaning women.
1984 T. H. Glick Process of Neurologic Care Med. Pract. viii. 184 Similar difficulties beset verbal sign-outs from one physician or nurse to another.
2001 N.Y. Times 13 May iv. 7/3 Hospital Lingo... Rock , a very stable patient, often used at sign-out, when one physician is turning over care to another.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1921