tiebreaker

noun

tie·​break·​er ˈtī-ˌbrā-kər 

plural tiebreakers

1

: an additional contest or period of play used to select a winner when a competition or part of a competition ends in a tie

… after a 90-minute rain delay in the third set, won a riveting tiebreaker.

—L. Jon Wertheim

called also tiebreak

2

: a person whose vote breaks a tie

The vice president served as a tiebreaker in the last senate vote.

3

: a final vote, point, or score that determines the winner in a contest

She cast the tiebreaker.

Examples of tiebreaker in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Those two teams made the MLB Playoffs as National League Wild Cards and won the tiebreaker over last year’s NL champions Arizona Diamondbacks (89-73). —Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024

Both teams held tiebreakers over the D-backs, so the Snakes needed one team to win both games to make the postseason. —Jessica Boehm, Axios, 30 Sep. 2024

Milwaukee, 89-67 The Phillies hold the tiebreaker over the Dodgers, while the Dodgers hold the advantage over the Brewers. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2024

Fun fact: The Saints were also 2-0 last year … on their way to a 9-8 record that fell short of postseason due to tiebreakers that didn’t break New Orleans’ way. —Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 17 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1904, in the meaning defined at sense 3