"playoff" meaning in English

See playoff in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-us-playoff.oga Forms: playoffs [plural]
Etymology: Deverbal from play off; by surface analysis, play + -off. Etymology templates: {{deverbal|en|play off}} Deverbal from play off, {{surf|en|play|-off|nocap=1}} by surface analysis, play + -off Head templates: {{en-noun}} playoff (plural playoffs)
  1. A final game in a series needed to break a tie. Translations (series game): плейоф (plejof) [masculine] (Bulgarian), мач на елиминация (mač na eliminacija) (Bulgarian), 季後賽 /季后赛 (jìhòusài) (Chinese Mandarin), 附加賽 /附加赛 (fùjiāsài) (Chinese Mandarin), baráž [feminine] (Czech), pudotuspelit (Finnish), pudotuspeli (Finnish), プレーオフ (purēofu) (Japanese), плей-офф (plei-off) (Kazakh), 플레이오프 (peulleiopeu) (Korean), плејоф (plejof) [masculine] (Macedonian), baraż [masculine] (Polish), repasaż [masculine] (Polish), repesaż [masculine] (Polish), play-off [masculine] (Portuguese), playoff [masculine] (Portuguese), плей-офф (plej-off) [masculine] (Russian), baráž [feminine] (Slovak), playoff [masculine] (Spanish), eliminatoria [feminine] (Spanish), utslagsmatch (Swedish), playoff-match (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-playoff-en-noun-PXDVrM-9 Categories (other): English deverbals, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -off, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 4 entries, Pages with entries, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Kazakh translations, Terms with Korean translations, Terms with Macedonian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Slovak translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English deverbals: 57 17 26 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 59 13 28 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -off: 53 21 26 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 66 9 25 Disambiguation of Pages with 4 entries: 66 9 25 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 69 5 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 49 24 28 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 47 29 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 49 24 28 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 67 9 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Kazakh translations: 49 25 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Korean translations: 48 26 27 Disambiguation of Terms with Macedonian translations: 51 24 26 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 42 24 35 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 49 24 27 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 50 25 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 67 9 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Slovak translations: 51 24 26 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 68 8 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 48 25 27 Disambiguation of 'series game': 45 28 27
  2. (US) A short series of games to select a league champion. Tags: US
    Sense id: en-playoff-en-noun-niT2W7Z7 Categories (other): American English, Terms with Mandarin translations Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 42 24 35
  3. (UK) A short series of games to select the last team to be promoted (to elevate to a higher league). Tags: UK
    Sense id: en-playoff-en-noun-33d08pGa Categories (other): British English, Terms with Mandarin translations Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 42 24 35
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: play-off Derived forms: playoff beard, Shaughnessy playoff Related terms: play off

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "playoff beard"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "Shaughnessy playoff"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "play off"
      },
      "expansion": "Deverbal from play off",
      "name": "deverbal"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "play",
        "3": "-off",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "by surface analysis, play + -off",
      "name": "surf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Deverbal from play off; by surface analysis, play + -off.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "playoffs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "playoff (plural playoffs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "hyphenation": [
    "play‧off"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "play off"
    }
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        {
          "_dis": "53 21 26",
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        {
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          "_dis": "49 24 28",
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          "_dis": "47 29 25",
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        {
          "_dis": "67 9 24",
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        {
          "_dis": "49 25 25",
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          "_dis": "68 8 24",
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        {
          "_dis": "48 25 27",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A final game in a series needed to break a tie."
      ],
      "id": "en-playoff-en-noun-PXDVrM-9",
      "links": [
        [
          "final",
          "final"
        ],
        [
          "game",
          "game"
        ],
        [
          "series",
          "series"
        ],
        [
          "break",
          "break"
        ],
        [
          "tie",
          "tie"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "plejof",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "плейоф"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "mač na eliminacija",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "мач на елиминация"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "jìhòusài",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "季後賽 /季后赛"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "fùjiāsài",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "附加賽 /附加赛"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "baráž"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "pudotuspelit"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "pudotuspeli"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "purēofu",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "プレーオフ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "kk",
          "lang": "Kazakh",
          "roman": "plei-off",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "плей-офф"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "peulleiopeu",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "플레이오프"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "plejof",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "плејоф"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "baraż"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "repasaż"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "repesaż"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "play-off"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "playoff"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "plej-off",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "плей-офф"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "sk",
          "lang": "Slovak",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "baráž"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "playoff"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "series game",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "eliminatoria"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "utslagsmatch"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "45 28 27",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "series game",
          "word": "playoff-match"
        }
      ]
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A short series of games to select a league champion."
      ],
      "id": "en-playoff-en-noun-niT2W7Z7",
      "links": [
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          "league"
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      ],
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        {
          "ref": "2023 May 27, Raj Singh Mahil, “EFL Championship playoff final result: Luton defeat Coventry on penalties to clinch Premier League promotion”, in THe Sporting News:",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "A short series of games to select the last team to be promoted (to elevate to a higher league)."
      ],
      "id": "en-playoff-en-noun-33d08pGa",
      "links": [
        [
          "promote",
          "promote"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK) A short series of games to select the last team to be promoted (to elevate to a higher league)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
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      "audio": "En-us-playoff.oga",
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "play-off"
    }
  ],
  "word": "playoff"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English deverbals",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English phrasal nouns",
    "English terms suffixed with -off",
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    "Terms with Czech translations",
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    "Terms with Korean translations",
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    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Slovak translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "playoff beard"
    },
    {
      "word": "Shaughnessy playoff"
    }
  ],
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      "args": {
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        "2": "play off"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "play",
        "3": "-off",
        "nocap": "1"
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      "name": "surf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Deverbal from play off; by surface analysis, play + -off.",
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      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  ],
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      "args": {},
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "play off"
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  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A final game in a series needed to break a tie."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "final",
          "final"
        ],
        [
          "game",
          "game"
        ],
        [
          "series",
          "series"
        ],
        [
          "break",
          "break"
        ],
        [
          "tie",
          "tie"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A short series of games to select a league champion."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "league",
          "league"
        ],
        [
          "champion",
          "champion"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US) A short series of games to select a league champion."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
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        "British English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2023 May 27, Raj Singh Mahil, “EFL Championship playoff final result: Luton defeat Coventry on penalties to clinch Premier League promotion”, in THe Sporting News:",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "A short series of games to select the last team to be promoted (to elevate to a higher league)."
      ],
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        [
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          "promote"
        ]
      ],
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        "(UK) A short series of games to select the last team to be promoted (to elevate to a higher league)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
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      "audio": "En-us-playoff.oga",
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    {
      "word": "play-off"
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  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "plejof",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "плейоф"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "mač na eliminacija",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "мач на елиминация"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "jìhòusài",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "季後賽 /季后赛"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "fùjiāsài",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "附加賽 /附加赛"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "baráž"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "pudotuspelit"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "pudotuspeli"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "purēofu",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "プレーオフ"
    },
    {
      "code": "kk",
      "lang": "Kazakh",
      "roman": "plei-off",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "плей-офф"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "peulleiopeu",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "플레이오프"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "plejof",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "плејоф"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "baraż"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "repasaż"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "repesaż"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "play-off"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "playoff"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "plej-off",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "плей-офф"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "baráž"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "playoff"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "series game",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "eliminatoria"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "utslagsmatch"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "series game",
      "word": "playoff-match"
    }
  ],
  "word": "playoff"
}

Download raw JSONL data for playoff meaning in English (5.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (05fdf6b and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.