Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. A confrontation or argument between two people or groups
WordNet
n. a hostile disagreement face-to-face [syn: confrontation, encounter, showdown]
(ice hockey) the method of starting play; a referee drops the puck between two opposing players
Wikipedia
A face-off is the method used to begin play in ice hockey and some other sports. The two teams line up in opposition to each other, and the opposing skaters attempt to gain control of the puck after it is dropped between their sticks by an official. Face-offs are generally handled by centres, although some wingers handle face-offs and very rarely, some defensemen as well. One of the referees drops the puck at centre ice to start each period and following the scoring of a goal. The linesmen are responsible for all other face-offs.
Face-Off is a 1971 Canadian feature film produced by John F. Bassett starring Art Hindle, Trudy Young and John Vernon. The story line concerns a rookie Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey player and his romance with a musician. Several National Hockey League players also appeared in the film.
Usage examples of "face-off".
At quiet moments in the past they had indulged in calculation face-offs, and sometimes—to Tally's amazement—Steven Graves held his own.
Bands of marauding seven-year-olds were braving the fierce snow to harass weary homegoing widows on Flatbush Avenue, and boys armed with needle torches were gleefully cutting the bars on the lion cages in Prospect Park Zoo, and rival gangs of barely pubescent prostitutes, bare-thighed in gaudy thermal undershifts and aluminium coronets, were holding their vicious nightly territorial face-offs at Grand Army Plaza.
He reddened and quickly dropped it on the saddle horn, darting a glance at Yonan to see if his overeagerness for a face-off had been detected.