as in rivalry
an earnest effort for superiority or victory over another
the annual fall face-off between these traditional rivals is a big event for both football-mad colleges
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Recent Examples of face-off
Bobby Allyn, NPR, 6 Mar. 2026
An eighth-grader at Maranatha Christian School won the county spelling bee Thursday, beating his closest rival after a one-on-one face-off that lasted 13 rounds.
—Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2026
Clay Chandler, semafor.com, 27 Mar. 2026
On Saturday, Texas will take on Kentucky, Michigan will face off with Louisville, South Carolina takes on Oklahoma, and TCU takes on Virginia.
—ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for face-off
Noun
Mansour, in a December podcast interview, likened his beef with Coplan with one of the most rousing rivalries in NFL history, the face-off between Tom Brady and Eli Manning over football quarterback supremacy.
—Bobby Allyn, NPR, 6 Mar. 2026
An eighth-grader at Maranatha Christian School won the county spelling bee Thursday, beating his closest rival after a one-on-one face-off that lasted 13 rounds.
—Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2026
Verb
In the space of a single week, the US struck Iran’s Kharg Island, temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil exports, allowed Iranian tankers carrying crude to pass freely through the Strait of Hormuz en route to China, and faced off with Chinese officials in Paris for trade talks.
—Clay Chandler, semafor.com, 27 Mar. 2026
On Saturday, Texas will take on Kentucky, Michigan will face off with Louisville, South Carolina takes on Oklahoma, and TCU takes on Virginia.
—ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for face-off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for face-off
Noun
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Their rivalry reached its peak in 2018, when the two engaged in an on-court brawl during a matchup between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
29 Mar. 2026
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Their relationship starts as pure rivalry, shifts into a friends-with-benefits arrangement and eventually evolves into a full romantic relationship across the six-episode first season.—
Hanna Wickes,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In the market for preterm nutrition, Abbott and Mead Johnson compete with each other, not against the use of human milk, the companies told KFF Health News.—
David Hilzenrath,
USA Today,
29 Mar. 2026
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Any organization with 50 or more employees in the state is eligible to compete for a Top Workplaces award.—
Bob Helbig,
Freep.com,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
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At the time of the initial gun battle, the MacEgans were on an afternoon walk through a nearby field.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
26 Mar. 2026
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So California may be readying to wage a two-front battle — the familiar one against smog, but a second, altogether new one, against an administration determined to let California get smoggy again.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Advocates contend the findings reveal troubling conditions behind an industry that supplies plants and flowers to major retailers across the country.—
Ivan Taylor,
CBS News,
25 Mar. 2026
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Time will tell if the Halos have enough talent to contend in a division the Seattle Mariners are heavily favored to win.—
Steve Galluzzo,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Paolo Banchero prevailed in a duel with DeMar DeRozan, putting up 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to lead the Magic to a 121-117 victory over the Kings at Kia Center in Orlando.—
Jason Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
27 Mar. 2026
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The opposing sides spent roughly the first two years of the war engaged in a lopsided artillery duel along the front, which stretched for more than 600 miles.—
Simon Shuster,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Families raced to the airport as divers searched the icy Potomac.—
Sharyn Alfonsi,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
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But the pictures of Jane and Adam in her wallet in the safe triggered a wave of negative thoughts racing through my mind.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Mercury News,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
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One of the two women's boxing gold medalists at the center of the gender controversy in Paris, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, has passed her gene test and can return to competition, the World Boxing governing body said last week.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
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The Sora rollback is part of a broader shift within OpenAI, once the undisputed frontrunner in the AI race that now faces serious competition from rivals such as Anthropic and Google.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The confrontation was set off in July of 1956, when Egypt’s ruler, Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, a charismatic populist, nationalized the Anglo-French company that had operated the canal since its creation in 1869, during the colonial era.—
Ishaan Tharoor,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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The tense and often violent confrontations outside the Broadview facility included questionable tactics by the federal officers with their use of tear gas and less-lethal munitions on demonstrators.—
Jeremy Gorner,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Face-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/face-off. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
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