Meanings
-off1
plural -offs
- 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
- alternativeAlternative spelling of -ov.
Origin
-off · suffix
Back-formation from playoff, a deverbal, as the archetype.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
-off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-off
“-off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-off. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-off,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-off.
Source: -off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.