match point
4
3.4
- noun
- /mæʧ pɔɪnt/
:
punto de partido
- He nervously prepared for the final serve, knowing he was one point away from match point.
- saved a match point
- two match points
- three match points
Examples
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With one more point, she will have a match point to win the championship.
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The crowd erupted in excitement as the player reached match point during the final set.
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Brimeyer had another kill to secure the match point for St. Thomas.
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Jamestown fought off a couple of match points.
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And if Riise scores, Liverpool are at match point.
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We had a one-match point advantage over China, so we weren't in a must-win situation.
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Match point for Jen Crowe and Diana Wilkes.
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UNF attempted to fight back and faced match point three times before Khadijah Wiley had the match-winning kill.
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Following a pair of kills from Lianna Sybeldon and Parker to give the Huskies a 24-23 lead, Strickland came to the service line at the 13th match point of the set looking to earn a crucial conference win for the Huskies.
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Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a point which secures victory in the match' is directly and compositionally derived from 'match' (a contest) + 'point' (a unit of scoring). This noun-noun combination follows transparent, cross-linguistic sports logic (a deciding point) and a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Match point comes from tennis and other sports. It names the single point that will finish the match if the player wins it, so the phrase means the 'final' moment that brings 'victory'.