death match

Or death·match

[deth mach]

noun

1. Professional Wrestling.,  a type of wrestling match in which dangerous objects such as nail-studded props, glass, and barbed wire are allowed in a graphically brutal and bloody spectacle.

2. a genre of multiplayer video game in which a player’s goal is to kill or otherwise eliminate opponents’ player characters from the match.

3. a literal or metaphorical fight to the death in which a combatant becomes the victor by eliminating one or more enemies: In a pizza topping death match, who would win—classic pepperoni or exotic pineapple?

   The slasher film Freddy vs. Jason pits the two horror icons against each other in a gory death match.

   In a pizza topping death match, who would win—classic pepperoni or exotic pineapple?

Word History and Origins

Origin of death match¹

First recorded in 1955–60 death match for def. 1, in 1970–75 death match for def. 3, and in 1990–95 death match for def. 2

Example Sentences

Part of the series’ breathtaking cinematic scope includes occasional jolts of action, and this long-foreshadowed death match lives up to the best of those scenes.

From Salon

The customary end-of-episode cliffhanger saw either Fozia or Leon facing murder ahead of Wednesday's seventh episode in a card game called death match.

From BBC

The medical board does not name patients in its accusations, but details of her surgery and death match those of Johnson, whose husband sued Naim and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

From Los Angeles Times

The Hollywood sketch and improv mecca pits “Gays vs. Straights,” in a “gameshow death match” June 1, the venue’s first all trans/gender-nonconforming/nonbinary improv team delivers “QT’s Present…Joy!”

From Los Angeles Times

Ice cream dates will likely be no match against an opposition that is offering a political version of a steel cage death match and the terror dome.

From Salon