playoff

1 of 2

noun

play·​off ˈplā-ˌȯf How to pronounce playoff (audio)
variants or less commonly play-off
1
: a final contest, series of contests, or period of play to determine the winner between contestants or teams that have tied
a golf tournament decided by an 18-hole playoff
a sudden-death playoff
2
: a series of contests played after the end of the regular season to determine a championship
usually plural except when used before another noun
Will you watch the playoffs?
got tickets to a playoff game

play off

2 of 2

verb

played off; playing off; plays off

transitive verb

1
a
: to set in opposition for one's own gain
b
: to set in contrast
2
: to complete the playing of (an interrupted contest)
3
: to break (a tie) by a playoff

Examples of playoff in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
These guys slog through 162 games, not 82, only to be faced with a playoff format now so bloated that — this being baseball — the best team might not win, let alone reach the World Series (see: 2023, Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks). Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2024 Cleveland has reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and signed superstar guard Donovan Mitchell to a three-year, $150.3 million contract extension in July. Justin Birnbaum, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2024
Verb
But the lack of factual evidence hasn’t stopped the GOP from pushing the nativist narrative, which seems designed to play off bigotry and suspicion against the mostly Black population of Haitian immigrants. Ian Millhiser, Vox, 9 Sep. 2024 In a lot of ways, our style has become much more casual, so our jewelry has this casual background to play off of. Camille Freestone, refinery29.com, 30 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for playoff 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'playoff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1895, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1736, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of playoff was in 1736

Dictionary Entries Near playoff

Cite this Entry

“Playoff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/playoff. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

play-off

1 of 2 noun
ˈplā-ˌȯf
1
: a final contest or series of contests to break a tie
2
: a series of contests played after the end of the regular season to determine a championship
often used in plural

play off

2 of 2 verb
(ˈ)plā-ˈȯf
: to break a tie by a play-off

More from Merriam-Webster on playoff

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!