signed, sealed, and delivered

signed, sealed, and delivered

English

Etymology

From an old English common law rule that property was not conveyed from one party to another until the document memorializing the conveyance had been signed by the conveyor, affixed with his seal, and delivered to the recipient of the property.

Adjective

signed, sealed, and delivered (not comparable)

1. Completed, particularly with respect to the conveyance of something.
   • 2009, Jesse Ventura, Don't Start the Revolution Without Me!, p. 105:

     The deal had been in the offing for a while—I really had no bearing on it—but it was signed, sealed, and delivered that week.

   • 2011, Sanya Hudson-Payne, A Love I Can Trust, p. 70:

     Instead, here she was, a woman who had only been cheated on in the past, abandoned by her father, and for that, her heart was signed, sealed, and delivered to only her.