tiebreaker

noun

tie·​break·​er ˈtī-ˌbrā-kər 

plural tiebreakers

1

: an additional contest or period of play used to select a winner when a competition or part of a competition ends in a tie

… after a 90-minute rain delay in the third set, won a riveting tiebreaker.

—L. Jon Wertheim

called also tiebreak

2

: a person whose vote breaks a tie

The vice president served as a tiebreaker in the last senate vote.

3

: a final vote, point, or score that determines the winner in a contest

She cast the tiebreaker.

Examples of tiebreaker in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And by virtue of their 3-1 head-to-head record against the Lakers, the Warriors own the tiebreaker. —Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024

With the Knicks holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Heat, Miami needs to finish with fewer losses to pass New York in almost every scenario. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2024

And while Minnesota still owns the tiebreaker, the lack of breathing room in the standings looms large with the Wolves and Nuggets set to square off Wednesday in Denver. —Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 6 Apr. 2024

The Warriors already own the tiebreaker against the Rockets, so their lead would effectively be five games with only six left on the schedule, making the Warriors’ path to falling completely out of the playoffs akin to filling out a March Madness bracket with a perfect Final Four. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024

The win vaulted the Warriors over the Lakers in the standings and serves a step toward earning a tiebreaker. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 17 Mar. 2024

Azle can take it with an upset win over Brewer, while Saginaw needs to secure a win against Rider (6-17, 1-10) to force a tiebreaker. —Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Feb. 2024

If the season ended today, the Aztecs would be the No. 4 seed next week based on tiebreakers and play UNLV in the quarterfinals. —Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Mar. 2024

Even the final tiebreaker of disciplinary points (essentially yellow and red cards) could not separate the two teams, so a draw of lots was required to decide the last quarterfinalist! —Neel Shelat, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1904, in the meaning defined at sense 3