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

Things like this happen in spring training, and weird stuff seems to happen when the Cubs and San Francisco Giants play any time of the year, from the Cactus League to the 1998 wild-card tiebreaker at Wrigley Field, when the giant Harry Caray balloon hovered over the bleachers. —Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 22 Feb. 2026

The Heat has two games left to play against the 76ers, and can clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker over Philadelphia with a win in either of those two remaining matchups. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 22 Feb. 2026

Detroit entered the post-All-Star meeting holding a 2-0 lead in the three-game season series, which meant the Pistons owned the tiebreaker regardless of the outcome at The Garden on Thursday. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 20 Feb. 2026

There are a couple ties and the aforementioned committee will decide who gets the tiebreaker. —Tom Bogert, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1904, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for tiebreaker

• blackacre
• caretaker
• clockmaker
• dressmaker
• filmmaker
• homemaker
• icebreaker
• lawmaker
• matchmaker
• pacemaker
• partaker
• peacemaker