faces off

verb

present tense third-person singular of face off
as in competes
to engage in a contest eager to face off with her longtime tennis rival

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of faces off With Kean running unopposed in the June 2 Republican primary, whichever Democrat faces off against him in November will almost certainly shape their campaign around his disappearance. — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 23 May 2026 The singer faces off with Priestly just before an Italian fashion show performance. — Nigel Smith, PEOPLE, 2 May 2026 Jordan's character, a billionaire, faces off against a former FBI agent (played by Adria Arjona). — Saba Hamedy, NBC news, 17 Apr. 2026 These people have already drunk their faces off. — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026 Pattinson can be heard as the announcer during the British Open semifinals scene toward the beginning of the A24 film, before Chalamet’s Marty Mauser faces off against Hungarian champion Bela Kletzki (Géza Röhrig). — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 13 Jan. 2026 Every three years, the division faces off against a division from the NFC. — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Jan. 2026 Christopher plays Anatoly Sergievsky, a Soviet chess champion who faces off against an American (Aaron Tveit), with a woman caught between them (Lea Michele). — Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025 Before Alabama faces off against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, Saban offered a word of warning to head coach Kalen DeBoer and his Crimson Tide. — Andrew McCarty, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for faces off
  1. competes
  2. contends
  3. races
Verb
  • The process comes with challenges, though, as moving quality enforcement upstream takes engineering effort that competes with delivery deadlines.
    — Jay Limburn, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
  • The rollout comes as Netflix competes for audience time from YouTube and social media platforms such as TikTok that have viral videos that can occupy users for hours.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
Definition of competes
Verb
  • The unsettled conference status for Ursuline is causing the school harm, the complaint contends.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 6 July 2026
  • On Thursday, federal court records show, attorneys for Marseille filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, seeking damages for what the suit contends was undue use of force.
    — Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of contends
Verb
  • As is common with Enola Holmes films, zippy flashbacks and kicky montages illuminate what led up to all of this, but there’s an energy missing here, as the film races to get back into the present Maltese moment, which feels dire indeed.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 30 June 2026
  • Anthropic has accused the Chinese firm Alibaba of launching the largest attack yet attempting to clone Claude, as China races to match the capabilities of Anthropic’s leading model following Mythos’ release and subsequent restriction from foreign markets.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 25 June 2026
Definition of races

Browse Nearby Words

faces
faces off
faces up (to)
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Cite this Entry

“Faces off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/faces%20off. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

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