English

Alternative forms

• sign on

Noun

sign-on ‎(plural sign-ons)

1. The username and password for logging in to a computer account.
   • 2014, Elizabeth Keathley, Digital Asset Management, ISBN 1430263776:

     No one likes to continually update and remember multiple passwords and sign-ons, so if it's affordable, try to keep the security as simple as possible.

   • 2014, Thomas Payne, Practical Guide to Clinical Computing Systems, ISBN 0127999191:

     Considering the large number of applications in healthcare, multiple sign-ons can become a significant burden to the users.

   • 2015, Alan Calder & ‎Steve Watkins, IT Governance: An International Guide to Data Security and ISO27001/ISO27002, ISBN 0749474068:

     A user access profile that contains a number of individual system and information access rights can simplify life for the users (there is only one set of information to remember and therefore fewer written records to comporomise) and for the system administrator (it is easier to control and monitor access rights by an individual and to concentrate on tightening and improving security rather than administering multiple sign-ons).

   • 2016, Balser Group, Mandated Benefits Compliance Guide 2016 W/ Cd, ISBN 1454855940, page 5-19:

     Thus preparers needed to have their own sign-ons to the system in order to complete the report, and plan administrators need to obtain their own electronic signature credentials (a PIN) to the EFAST2 system.

2. An attempt to log in.
   • 1998, Martin A. Krist, Standard for Auditing Computer Applications, ISBN 1439858209:

     If the number of attempted sign-ons reaches the threshold value in the security software, the system will respond.

   • 2012, Abdulrahman Alghamdi, Tracking Student Record, ISBN 1471073645, page 20:

     Daily sign-ons are reported by exceptions, i.e. by who has not signed on each day.

   • 2012, Rick Sutcliffe, The Builder, ISBN 1921636572:

     I'll get the passwords attempted in the failed sign-ons.

3. (more generally) An instance of signing on to something.
   • 1996, Keith Graber Miller, Wise as Serpents, Innocent as Doves, ISBN 087049936X:

     Some legislative aides in Washington suggest that church lobbyists do need to be discriminating in their sign-ons.

   • 2006, Raymond A. Smith & ‎Patricia D. Siplon, Drugs Into Bodies: Global AIDS Treatment Activism, ISBN 0275983250, page 108:

     The work of getting sign-ons, for example, was also beneficial because it literally facilitated talking among strangers, and after one sign-on was done, a person who had been approached as a stranger the first time could now be spoken to as a colleague to see whether she or he might be interested in being part of a group working on a project or action.

   • 2016, Daniel E. Dawes, 150 Years of ObamaCare, ISBN 1421419645, page 111:

     Please find the larger group sign-on letter attached for comments/feedback. Send any comments to Daniel Dawes at: ***@*** by Tuesday, April 28. Remember -- this is just a draft. After this letter has been vetted by you all, we will send out a final copy right after sign-ons.

4. A person who signs on to something.
   • 2009, Brian David Bruns, Cruise Confidential: A Hit Below the Waterline, ISBN 1932361707, page 164:

     The early sign-ons were already picking their way through the buffet, but the majority of the 3,500 guests had yet to arrive.

   • 2012, Ebed Louis, Screwed at Sea: The Devilish Gleam of Equis Cruise Lines, ISBN 1434928187, page 28:

     I got a call from the crew relations specialist that the sign-on had arrived, and they were taken to the so-called conference room for the sign-on process.

5. A verbal script that is repeated at the start of every instance of something, as a form of greeting and identification.
   • 1991, Charles E. Knox & ‎Charles Harris Scanlon, Flight tests with a data link used for air traffic control information exchange, page 11:

     In an effort to further reduce voice-radio frequency congestion with the use of data link, some crew members have suggested that no verbal sign-ons be required by the flight crews whenever an ATC frequency change occurs.

   • 2005, Mario Bosquez, The Chalupa Rules, ISBN 1440684812:

     These sign-ons and sign-offs have evolved through the years and have become “MFM” and “YFM.” This way, my entire family is included in the hellos and good-byes.

   • 2013, Violet “Cookie” Lynch, Years Into Lives: Pages from Our Family Stories, ISBN 1477294082, page 106:

     We got the news from Gabriel Heater whose sign-on was “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. North and South America, let's go to press;"

6. A signing bonus.
   • 1997, Informationweek - Issues 625-637, page 85:

     At Ryder, Habib used sign-ons as a way to attract key talent to the transportation company.

   • 2009, Emergency Medicine - Volume 41, Issues 1-6, page 49:

     NEPRC gave me excellent comparotives on all Northeast Jobs: Salaries, incentives, sign-ons, loan repay, relocation, bonuses, benefits in minutes.

   • 2010, Chris Roush, Show Me the Money, ISBN 1136947000:

     Sign-ons, to be fair, are neither a gift nor a bonus. They are payments for surrendering what remuneration an executive was promised at the job he's leaving.