-off

suffix

A competition [of the activity denoted by the word it combines with], especially a final, tiebreaker, or repechage within a broader tournament.

Meanings

-off1

suffix-off (noun-forming suffix, plural -offs)

plural -offs

  1. suffixed to a bare infinitiveA competition [of the activity denoted by the word it combines with], especially a final, tiebreaker, or repechage within a broader tournament.

    Gary, trying: “Let’s just have a black-off, let’s just do that now / Let’s just have a black-off, Yvette lemme show you how…”

    2021, “Whose Watchdown is it Anyway: S12E04, or Stop Squeezing the Guest”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)
    1 more example

    We must imagine this as a set of instructions: go forth and buy tickets, so we can keep making our bonkers explosion-offs for you in the future. When asked if he had enjoyed the film, he said: “I loved it” – twice. He wore a mask.

    2020 August 29, Rebecca Nicholson, “Tom Cruise: another groundbreaking role for cinema's cheerleader”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2021

-off2

suffix-off (proper noun-forming suffix)
  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of -ov.

Origin

-off · suffix

Back-formation from playoff, a deverbal, as the archetype.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

-off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-off

MLA

“-off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-off. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-off,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-off.

Source: -off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.