face off

face off

1. verb To begin a competition or contest. If you make it to the finals, you'll have to face off against their best player.
2. verb To initiate a competition or contest between two people. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "face" and "off." The referees will face you two off before the match begins.
3. verb In certain sports (like ice hockey), to begin play by dropping the ball or puck between two opponents. Send your best center out there to face off against theirs.
4. noun A conflict or confrontation. The phrase is typically hyphenated when used as a noun. A: "How long were those two in a face-off before the teacher got there?" B: "Long enough for Joey to give Pete a black eye!"
5. noun In hockey, when the puck is dropped between two opposing players to begin play, either at the start of the game or after a stoppage. The phrase is typically hyphenated when used as a noun. Our center won the face-off and passed the puck up the ice.
See also: face, off
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

face off

 
1. . to begin a hockey game with two players facing one another. They faced off and the match was on.
2. to prepare for a confrontation. The opposing candidates faced off and the debate began. They faced off and I knew there was going to be a fight.
See also: face, off
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

face off

v.
1. To begin a confrontation or competition: The troublemakers had just faced off when the playground aide noticed them.
2. To begin to confront or compete with someone: Those in favor of the proposal faced off with their opponents yesterday. The incumbent faced off against the challenger in a televised debate.
3. To cause something or someone to begin a confrontation or competition with or against something or someone: The organizers faced the finalists off against each other. The organizers faced each finalist off with the other. The organizers faced these two teams off early in the competition.
4. Sports To start play in ice hockey, lacrosse, and similar games by releasing the puck or ball between two opposing players: In hockey, the teams face off at the start of each period.
See also: face, off
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.

face-off

n. a confrontation. (From hockey.) The face-off continued for a few moments till both of them realized that there was no point in fighting.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • face-off
  • biff
  • cross over
  • answer to
  • bag it
  • bag someone
  • bagged
  • bagging
  • going to
  • break out
References in periodicals archive
Ruben added during the movie's panel at Comic-Con on Friday (20.07.18): "Well, I think we can all agree that it would be pretty amazing to see Spider-Man and Venom face off in a film.
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Summary: Incumbent Moncef Marzouki and rival Beji Caid Essebsi to face off on December 21, electoral body says.
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Summary: A new video posted by Kid Rock features him and actor Sean Penn having a jokey face off in a bar over their political differences.
Kid Rock and Sean Penn's election face off
secretary of state's office, three candidates are on the ballot for the Worcester County sheriff's job, which incumbent Guy Glodis decided not to run for, choosing instead to throw his hat in the ring for auditor: Two Democrats will face off on Sept.
Primary election is Tuesday
We're offering every reader a FREE packet of six WWE Face Off trading cards from Topps.
FREE top Wrestling top Wrestling Trading Cards
When Wulfgar's wife Signi falls victim to Gundrun's soul-thievery, Jessa, Rari, and their band of followers have no choice but to travel into the deep white, where Karl must face off with his mother in a final battle to save the people of the Jarlshold as well as his own soul.
Fisher, Catherine. Snow-Walker
Such couples sometimes face off in singing-doubles competitions.
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In Blitz's engrossing, nail-biting, and wonderfully sympathetic film we watch Angela, April, Ashley, Emily, Harry, Napur, Nell, and Ted prepare for the event by pouring over dictionaries until their pupils dilate, and then stand helplessly (and hopefully) in the wings as they face off against 250 others and a bag of impossible words.
Spellbound
Sunderland Chiefs play their fifth league game of the season tomorrow when they visit Flintshire Freeze (face off 6.30pm).
Ice Hockey
William Forsythe's Ballett Frankfurt makes its final appearance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival September 30-October 4, before disbanding next summer due to cost-cutting measures by the city of Frankfurt (see "Frankfurt and Forsythe Face Off," News, DANCE MAGAZINE, September 2002, page 19).
Frankfurt finale