How to Use face-off in a Sentence

face-off

1 of 2 noun
  • Batman fans should know how this face-off goes.
    — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 14 Oct. 2025
  • The plan is for the star forward to take face-offs again.
    — Kalen Lumpkins, Chicago Tribune, 18 Feb. 2026
  • The alumni do not want the face-off to be a one-off.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 22 Aug. 2025
  • The footage goes on to preview many of the face-offs to come.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 28 June 2025
  • Not ideal optics for this close to face-off.
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 4 Feb. 2026
  • The duo looked like they were geared up for some middle-school pool party face-off.
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 20 Mar. 2025
  • Each week will feature a new flavor face-off for guests to order.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 21 Mar. 2025
  • And there’s not a roundhouse kick or a high-octane pistol face-off in sight.
    — Clifford Coonan, Variety, 17 Mar. 2025
  • Esa Lindell scored on a seeing-eye shot off a face-off from the blue line.
    — Lia Assimakopoulos, Dallas Morning News, 21 Jan. 2026
  • So, yes, in a face-off, the Golf GTI wins.
    — ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Among the most hallowed are the weigh-in and face-off that occur the day before a match.
    — Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
  • There are specialists who work on shooting and others who work on face-offs.
    — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2025
  • Now, only one of the finalists can be crowned the victor of the fall food face-off.
    — Angelika Ytuarte, jsonline.com, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Marcott said that success in the third quarter starts with winning face-offs.
    — Nick Celario, oregonlive, 4 June 2023
  • Vote in the ultimate taco face-off, the shell-ebration is almost here.
    — Ashley Fredde, Idaho Statesman, 25 June 2025
  • Roberts' costar Ayo Edebiri talks about their intense face-off.
    — Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025
  • Landeskog, camped near the net, passed back to Nazem Kadri at the right face-off circle.
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Then came the call that set up a face-off between the government and industry.
    — Matthew Herper, STAT, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Uruguay and Ghana were locked at 1-1 in a tense face-off that had already gone to overtime.
    — Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 11 June 2026
  • For Cuomo the stakes of the face-off were especially high.
    — Dave Smith, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Crowley’s face-off with the freshman mayor began when the fires were still raging.
    — Michael Loria, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Expect a court face-off that will shape the landscape of Hollywood for years to come.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 28 Feb. 2026
  • The movie ends in a face-off between the father and his family at an ancient desert ruins.
    — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 29 Nov. 2024
  • The rules for include a two-hour time limit, no bunting and a one-on-one tiebreaker face-off at the end of the game if it’s tied.
    — Irit Skulnik, Baltimore Sun, 30 July 2025
  • Following the game, Ronde, 49, said he was relieved their face-offs were over.
    — Marina Watts, People.com, 27 Oct. 2024
  • The top candidates are two old white guys who have held the job before and are repeating their face-off from four years ago.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2024
  • But the latest controversy highlights that race will play a role in the face-off between them.
    — Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 2 Mar. 2023
  • But this race is shaping up as a face-off between Henderson and Hayes.
    — Christopher Wallenberg, BostonGlobe.com, 8 June 2023
  • Robbie and Jayson eventually have a face-off.
    — Grace Byron, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2025
  • As such, damage to the port surely has the effect of weakening Iran’s hand in the face-off.
    — Melik Kaylan, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025

face off

2 of 2 verb
  • Throw out the rules when two rivals face off.
    — Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Oct. 2025
  • The pair faced off a handful of times in high school.
    — Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Five times, the in-state rivals have faced off this year.
    — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 15 Mar. 2026
  • The two sides will face off on Sunday.
    — CBS News, 20 Feb. 2026
  • The boys donned headgear and faced off, one on one, with padded sticks.
    — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
  • The two coaches faced off 44 times.
    — Sam Jane, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026
  • These people have already drunk their faces off.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
  • And everyone on that stage had just ripped the faces off that crowd.
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 15 Oct. 2025
  • The teams have faced off 24 times as Top 25 foes.
    — Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
  • The fighters will use four-ounce gloves and will face off inside a hexagon cage.
    — Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2026
  • Texas will face off against UTEP next week.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2025
  • As the two faced off, Dion did a costume reveal.
    — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 11 June 2026
  • D’Angelo stepped back into the ring to face off against Hendry.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 5 Apr. 2026
  • The two will face off again in November.
    — Linh Tat, Daily News, 27 June 2026
  • The two will face off in November.
    — John Seiler, Oc Register, 4 June 2026
  • The two will face off in November.
    — The Editorial Board, Daily News, 10 June 2026
  • In the free-to-play game, teams of five face off and play agents with unique abilities.
    — Sarah Parvini, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2023
  • The victor of the three-way race will face off against Skinner.
    — Noah Daly may 7, Idaho Statesman, 7 May 2026
  • The episode also brought back the dance-offs, where pairs faced off head-to-head in the same dance style.
    — Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
  • Japan and Sweden will face off in their final match of the group stage.
    — Steven Rosenbaum, CBS News, 25 June 2026
  • Pablo Langesfeld faced off against a health giant — and won.
    — Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 25 Apr. 2026
  • The two will face off amid wild rumors of a Cody Rhodes heel turn.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
  • The two teams are facing off for the first time since 1951.
    — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2026
  • The tournament consists of a round-robin where all four teams will face off.
    — Jackson Castellano, Sun Sentinel, 28 June 2024
  • Only keeping your face off the pillow does that.
    — Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Now, these two rising teams will face off in an intriguing first-round matchup.
    — Jared Weiss, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2026
  • At the end of each show, the judges pick two characters to face off in a battle of wits.
    — Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Next week, the Crimson Tide will face off against Troy.
    — Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
  • Ma and Romero will now face off in November.
    — Katie King, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026
  • The teams will face off again July 29 in Phoenix.
    — ABC News, 10 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'face-off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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