playoff

1 of 2

noun

play·​off ˈplā-ˌȯf 

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

—used with against

They have been playing him off against his old enemies.

b

: to set in contrast

chose a sweet wine to play off the sharp cheese

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

Joe Mack and Xavier Edwards added RBI singles later in the fifth for the Marlins, who began the day 2 1/2 games behind Philadelphia and Arizona for the final two NL playoff spots. — CBS News, 1 Aug. 2026

With the loss, the A’s fell to 45-65, 10 1/2 games out of a playoff spot, and capped off the franchise’s worst month of July since 1938. — Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 1 Aug. 2026

Verb

The process was designed and optimized so that most of the time, Anderson and Zaman could just be playing off each other. — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 20 July 2026

Her triple from the corner with 45 seconds to play off a Miles feed, of course, gave the Lynx (18-6) a 101-98 lead. — Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 14 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1895, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1736, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for playoff

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• runoff

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