head-to-head

• head to head

• IPA^(key): /ˌhɛd tu ˈhɛd/, /ˌhɛd tə ˈhɛd/

head-to-head (comparative more head-to-head, superlative most head-to-head)

1. Direct, one-to-one.
   • 2006 July 11, Dan Reed, “At 35, Southwest's strategy gets more complicated”, in USA Today:

     For years, Southwest sought to avoid head-to-head competition with big, traditional airlines.

   • 2025 October 1, Megan Forrester, “2025 Fat Bear Week winner announced: See who was named 'beefiest bruin'”, in ABC News‎^[1]:

     Fat Bear Week, which started in 2014, is an annual competition where brown bears from Alaska's Katmai National Park face off in head-to-head matchups -- similar to a March Madness bracket -- with people around the world voting for who they believe is the fattest of the bunch, the National Park Service said in a press release.

head-to-head (not comparable)

1. Facing one another.
2. Directly, one-to-one.

• tête-à-tête