(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 other goalkeepers in England's World Cup squad were Nottingham Forest's Dean Henderson - who was probably regarded as Pickford's understudy as he played in the third-place play-off - and James Trafford of Manchester City.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Twice in 2026 he has lost in a play-off, to Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Gennaro Gattuso left the role of head coach in April after they were beaten by Bosnia-Herzegovina on penalties in the European play-off to miss out on the 2026 tournament in North America.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
England qualified for Euro 2000 with a two-legged play-off victory against Scotland, but the campaign was a dismal failure.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
I was planning to make some microwave popcorn and watch a National League play-off game on TV.
From "Doing Time Online" by Jan Siebold
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
“Them being able to play off of one another allows them to just be fresher as the season and as games go on,” McVay said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025
Kenny: Low-ball bids, gambling on a play off.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 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
He’d play off of their riffs and not on top of them, unless they played a tidal wave of chords where everyone jammed together.
From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
