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
L. Jon Wertheimcalled 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
Nate Lewis had four hits and three RBIs, including the tiebreaker in the top of the ninth.
Crespi 4, Mater Dei 3: Mikey Martinez hit a three-run home run and Jackson Eisenhauer threw two hits of shutout relief with four strikeouts.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2025
This year, Scripps tweaked the competition rules, giving judges more leeway to let the competition play out before going to the tiebreaker, in which contestants spell as many words as possible in 90 seconds.
—Bay Area News Group, Mercury News, 30 May 2025
Starting today, 243 students will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee under new rules for the lightning-round tiebreaker.
—Morgan Severson, CNN Money, 28 May 2025
The 2008 Texas Tech team missed out on the Big 12 championship, and likely a Bowl Championship Series game, due to a BCS ranking tiebreaker.
—Chris Vannini, New York Times, 21 May 2025
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Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2025
This year, Scripps tweaked the competition rules, giving judges more leeway to let the competition play out before going to the tiebreaker, in which contestants spell as many words as possible in 90 seconds.
—Bay Area News Group, Mercury News, 30 May 2025
Starting today, 243 students will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee under new rules for the lightning-round tiebreaker.
—Morgan Severson, CNN Money, 28 May 2025
The 2008 Texas Tech team missed out on the Big 12 championship, and likely a Bowl Championship Series game, due to a BCS ranking tiebreaker.
—Chris Vannini, New York Times, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiebreaker
Cite this Entry
“Tiebreaker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tiebreaker. Accessed 7 Jun. 2025.
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