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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of face-off
Clifford Coonan, Variety, 17 Mar. 2025
The injured players are invited to attend every Wales home game, just like the Six Nations face-off.
—Janine Henni, People.com, 15 Mar. 2025
Worth Sparkman, Axios, 18 Mar. 2025
When these teams faced off in SEC play, Tennessee hit nine 3-pointers to Texas’ one.
—Chantel Jennings, The Athletic, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for face-off
Noun
And there’s not a roundhouse kick or a high-octane pistol face-off in sight.
—Clifford Coonan, Variety, 17 Mar. 2025
The injured players are invited to attend every Wales home game, just like the Six Nations face-off.
—Janine Henni, People.com, 15 Mar. 2025
Verb
Men The Razorbacks will face off against the Kansas Jayhawks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday in Providence, Rhode Island.
—Worth Sparkman, Axios, 18 Mar. 2025
When these teams faced off in SEC play, Tennessee hit nine 3-pointers to Texas’ one.
—Chantel Jennings, The Athletic, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for face-off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for face-off
Noun
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Saturday’s meeting between St. John’s and Arkansas (21-13) is set to renew a decades-long rivalry between Pitino and Calipari.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
21 Mar. 2025
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Pitino had unknowingly helped give Calipari his first big break and started a rivalry that lasts today.—
Tim Casey,
Forbes,
21 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Every male in the crowd competes to align their tails with the lone female red-sided garter snake for a chance at copulation.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
26 Mar. 2025
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And the vessels two rotational captains—Chris Gardner and Christian Trotter, both ex-Maltese Falcon skippers—compete over who can sail the yacht the most.—
Julia Zaltzman,
Robb Report,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The 65-year-old Augustinian friar and his three fellow monks, who have dedicated their lives to silent prayer inside Florence’s Santo Spirito monastery, are preparing to go into battle over plans to open a luxury retirement home on the site.—
Barbie Latza Nadeau,
CNN,
21 Mar. 2025
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Claude can also integrate multiple pieces of similar knowledge into pretty elegant battle strategies, even extending those strategies into long-term plans for catching and managing teams of multiple creatures for future battles.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
21 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Plaintiffs' attorneys contend Trump's order violates transgender people's rights to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
19 Mar. 2025
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Other development experts contend that foreign aid programs, while imperfect, have still made meaningful progress in improving health, education and freedoms.—
Sarah Stroup,
The Conversation,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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With a brewing 60 meter sprint race between NFL champion Tyreek Hill and Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles locked in for sometime later this year, conversations have been running amok as to whether the crossover duel will actually field a competitive race.—
Cory Mull,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
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Snell duels with Tarik Skubal, the incumbent AL Triple-Crowner and last year’s unanimous AL Cy Young.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Bowman raced to the top of the leaderboard in qualifying Saturday, during which the red-hot Josh Berry earned the other starting spot on the front row.—
Sam Navarro,
Charlotte Observer,
23 Mar. 2025
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There are incredibly talented young drivers in this sport who work 24/7 just to keep racing.—
Jenn Nelson,
Forbes,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
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At a time when utility rates continue to climb — particularly distribution charges which have risen by double digits over the past decade — the new law removes competition and locks customers into a monopoly system that is already out of control.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
19 Mar. 2025
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Arsenal were eventually triumphant and went on to win that year’s competition.—
Jessy Parker Humphreys,
The Athletic,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The Trump administration's decision to deport 137 Venezuelan migrants last weekend despite a judge's order blocking the move was viewed by some legal scholars as an escalation in President Donald Trump's confrontation with the judiciary.—
Reuters,
USA TODAY,
23 Mar. 2025
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Extremist violence runs from organized groups to lone attackers and from right-wing or white supremacist ideologies to leftist confrontations with police and the recent Tesla vandalism.—
Patrik Jonsson,
The Christian Science Monitor,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Face-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/face-off. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
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