write off

See also: writeoff and write-off

English

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

(accounting, transitive) To reduce the book value of (an asset) to zero.
(accounting, transitive) To record (an expenditure) as an expense.
(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).
(accounting) To record a notional expense such as amortization or depreciation.
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.
(figurative, transitive) To assign a low value to (something).
When Katya was injured, he wrote off the team's chances in the finals.
- 2015, Daniel Taylor, Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero too good for Chelsea as Diego Costa labours (in The Guardian, 16 August 2015)[1]
  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.

to reduce an asset's book value to zero

to record an expenditure as an expense

to record a notional expense

to assign a low value to something