(in competitive sports) the playing of an extra game, rounds, innings, etc., in order to settle a tie.
a series of games or matches, as between the leading teams of two leagues, in order to decide a championship.
In America the most exciting play-off is the World Series.
to deal with or manipulate as if in playing a game
to play one person off against another
(intr) to take part in a play-off
sport an extra contest to decide the winner when two or more competitors are tied
a contest or series of games to determine a championship, as between the winners of two competitions
See under play both ends against the middle .
Break a tie by playing an additional game or period, as in Each team had won three games so they had to play off the tie to decide the championship .
First recorded in 1890–95; noun use of verb phrase play off
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The portraits play off the novel’s milieu: a series of churches, as well as the medieval French castle that is home to an eccentric and mostly absent prince.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
Drugmaker Novo Nordisk is running ads that play off Apple’s humorous early-aughts “Get a Mac” campaign to try to distinguish Ozempic from other GLP-1 drugs taken for Type 2 diabetes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026
Another one who will be looking at the World Cup and thinking he's got to go - he can play off the left-hand side with Kylian Mbappe for France.
From BBC • Dec. 15, 2025
So is the post the result of an overly online social media manager trying to play off dumb memes?
From Slate • Aug. 14, 2025
It’s a monologue, not short, so for Zach to blow it would get the play off to a very poor start, and probably also spook the rest of the cast.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
