sign-on

Noun

sign-on (countable and uncountable, plural sign-ons)

1. The username and password for logging in to a computer account.
   • 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, Elizabeth Keathley, Digital Asset Management, →ISBN
   • Considering the large number of applications in healthcare, multiple sign-ons can become a significant burden to the users.2014, Thomas Payne, Practical Guide to Clinical Computing Systems, →ISBN
2. An attempt to log in.
   • If the number of attempted sign-ons reaches the threshold value in the security software, the system will respond.1998, Martin A. Krist, Standard for Auditing Computer Applications, →ISBN
   • Daily sign-ons are reported by exceptions, i.e. by who has not signed on each day.2012, Abdulrahman Alghamdi, Tracking Student Record, →ISBN, page 20

   Synonyms:

   login, log-in, sign-in

3. (broadly) An instance of signing on to something.
   • Some legislative aides in Washington suggest that church lobbyists do need to be discriminating in their sign-ons.1996, Keith Graber Miller, Wise as Serpents, Innocent as Doves, →ISBN
   • 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...2006, Raymond A. Smith, Patricia D. Siplon, Drugs Into Bodies: Global AIDS Treatment Activism, →ISBN, page 108
4. A person who signs on to something.
   • The early sign-ons were already picking their way through the buffet, but the majority of the 3,500 guests had yet to arrive.2009, Brian David Bruns, Cruise Confidential: A Hit Below the Waterline, →ISBN, page 164
   • 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.2012, Ebed Louis, Screwed at Sea: The Devilish Gleam of Equis Cruise Lines, →ISBN, page 28
5. A verbal script that is repeated at the start of every instance of something, as a form of greeting and identification.
   • 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.1991, Charles E. Knox, Charles Harris Scanlon, Flight tests with a data link used for air traffic control information exchange, page 11
   • 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.2005, Mario Bosquez, The Chalupa Rules, →ISBN
6. A signing bonus.
   • At Ryder, Habib used sign-ons as a way to attract key talent to the transportation company.1997, Informationweek - Issues 625-637, page 85
   • NEPRC gave me excellent comparotives on all Northeast Jobs: Salaries, incentives, sign-ons, loan repay, relocation, bonuses, benefits in minutes.2009, Emergency Medicine - Volume 41, Issues 1-6, page 49