Face-off means: (ODO)
(chiefly North American) A direct confrontation between two people or groups:
last night’s vice presidential face-off.(Ice Hockey) The start of play, in which the puck is dropped by the referee between two opposing players.
The term comes from hockey and refers to the action at the beginning of a game as shown in the picture:
Face-off: (Etymonline)
- also faceoff, 1893 in sports (hockey, lacrosse, etc.), from verbal phrase in a sports sense, attested from 1867.
Question:
While a confrontation face to face is quite evident from the action described, from which its figurative meaning, what does off refer to in the original meaning of the sportive context?
Best Answer
Not addressing the -off part directly, but face-off in hockey comes from its relative, lacrosse. The OED's first citation is from 1889:
I found several antedatings in 1886, the earliest from August 1886.
First, Harper's Young People (24 August 1886, vol. 7, no. 856, p.684):
Interestingly, the second talks of a proposed rule change to replace the face-off.
Outing : Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction (August 1886, vol .8, no. 5, p.581):