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

Also, club management made the Champions Cup a major point of emphasis, and Miami exited in the Round of 16 after a pair of ties against Nashville SC, which advanced because away goals were the tiebreaker. —Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 2 June 2026

Duke’s win against Wake Forest and SMU’s last-second loss to California sent the ACC into a massive tiebreaker for its championship game, which helped open the door for James Madison. —Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 1 June 2026

On Saturday, five different men’s matches went the full five sets, including three that ended in deciding tiebreakers. —Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 1 June 2026

Tiafoe dropped the opening set in a tiebreaker, then spent the next two sets wrestling control away from the unseeded Italian. —Dan Zaksheske, FOXNews.com, 1 June 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