play

verb

1. (intransitive)To act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment.

   “The children played in the park.”

   “A youngster[…]listed some of the things his pet did not do:[…]go on vacation, play in the same way that he did with his friends, and so on.”

   “2003, Anne-Nelly Perret-Clermont et al. (eds.), Joining Society: Social Interaction and Learning in Adolescence and Youth, Cambridge Univ. Press, p.52:”

2. (especially, intransitive)To toy or trifle; to act with levity or thoughtlessness; to be careless.

   “Don't play with your food!”

   “He's just playing with her affections.”

   “Thus Men are apt to play with their Healths and their Lives as they do with their Cloaths: [...]”

3. (intransitive, transitive)To perform in (a sport); to participate in (a game).

   “He plays on three teams.”

   “Who's playing now?”

   “play football, play sports, play games”

4. (intransitive, transitive)To perform in (a sport); to participate in (a game).

   “He plays left back for Mudchester Rovers”

5. (intransitive, transitive)To perform in (a sport); to participate in (a game).

   “We're playing one of the top teams in the next round.”

   “England will not be catapulted among the favourites for Euro 2012 as a result of this win, but no victory against Spain is earned easily and it is right they take great heart from their efforts as they now prepare to play Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday.”

6. (intransitive, transitive)To perform in (a sport); to participate in (a game).

   “Look at the score now ... 23 plays 8!”

7. (intransitive)To contend or fight using weapons, both as practice or in real life-or-death combats; to engage in martial games; to joust; to fence
8. (copulative, intransitive)To act or behave in a stated way.

   “to play safe, to play fair, to play dirty”

   “His mother played false with a smith.”

   “Now here you go again, you say you want your freedom / Well, who am I to keep you down? / It's only right that you should play the way you feel it / But listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness”

9. (copulative, intransitive)To act or behave in a stated way.

   “He plays dumb, but actually he's very clever.”

   “Don't play the innocent with us.”

   “Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt.”

   “Playing hard to get is not the same as slamming the door in someone's face.”

   “Now, surveying his final link, he had the nice advantage of being able to play coy with established port cities that desperately wanted his proven railroad.”

10. (transitive)To act as (the indicated role).

    “Stop playing the fool.”

    “No part of the brain plays the role of permanent memory.”

    “In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.”

11. (transitive)To act as (the indicated role).

    “Who played Scarlett O'Hara in 'Gone with the Wind'?”

    “Mister Friel plays Virgil to the narrator's Dante, finding him an apartment, bringing him to the right parties and offering the last word on gay New York.”

    “I'm not a doctor, but I do play one on TV.”

    “An opening sequence, featuring a de-aged Ford playing a younger Indy, is a bold and nostalgic gambit, offering a glimpse of what you've missed.”

12. (especially, intransitive, transitive)To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.

    “I'll play the piano and you sing.”

    “Can you play an instrument?”

    “I've practiced the piano off and on, but I still can't play very well.”

13. (intransitive, transitive)To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.

    “This piano plays out of tune.”

    “If your guitar plays well on fretted strings but annoys you on the open ones, the nut's probably worn out.”

14. (intransitive, transitive)To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.

    “You can play the DVD now.”

    “Don't play your radio so loud!”

    “Play the audio clip to hear how the word is pronounced.”

15. (intransitive, transitive, usually)To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.

    “Do you know how to play Für Elise on the piano?”

    “We especially like to play jazz together.”

    “She keeps playing 'Achy Breaky Heart' over and over again on her stereo.”

16. (intransitive, transitive, usually)To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.

    “The juke box is playing our favourite song.”

    “The radio was playing in the background.”

    “This DVD is scratched and won't play.”

    “Channel 9 is playing that old comedy series again.”

    “My cassette player won't play this worn-out old tape.”

17. (intransitive, transitive)To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.

    “His latest film is playing in the local theatre tomorrow.”

    “Some kind of lounge music was playing in the background.”

18. (intransitive, transitive, usually)To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.

    “The band is playing large arenas nationwide.”

    “I got a hold of Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong's agent and I explained to him on the phone that, "I know you're playing London on Wednesday night. Why don't you come and play the Arena in Windsor on Saturday night?"”

19. (intransitive, transitive)To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.

    “to play a comedy”

20. (intransitive, transitive)To move briskly, sweepingly, back and forth, in a directed manner, etc.

    “The fountain plays.”

    “The leaves played in the wind.”

    “All fame is foreign but of true desert, / Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart.”

21. (intransitive, transitive)To move briskly, sweepingly, back and forth, in a directed manner, etc.

    “The torch beam played around the room.”

    “They played the jet of water onto the seat of the fire.”

    “to play cannon upon a fortification”

    “[T]he ſetting Sun / Plays on their ſhining Arms and burniſh'd Helmets, / And cover's all the Field vvith Gleams of Fire.”

    “The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.”

22. (intransitive, transitive)To move briskly, sweepingly, back and forth, in a directed manner, etc.

    “the waving sedges play with wind”

    “The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play.”

23. (transitive)To bring into action or motion; to exhibit in action; to execute or deploy.

    “That was a great shot he played!”

    “He played the blue ball, but the green would have been a better choice.”

    “When you're in a team, you have to play your part.”

    “to play a trump in a card game, to play tricks, to play a joke”

    “Nature here / Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will / Her virgin fancies.”

24. (transitive)To handle or deal with (a matter or situation) in a stated way.

    “The bank robbers have three hostages inside, so we're going to have to play this very carefully.”

25. (transitive)To handle or deal with (something) in a calculating manner intended to achieve profit or gain.

    “He made a fortune on Wall Street, playing the markets.”

    “In this business you have to play the percentages.”

26. (intransitive)To be received or accepted (in a given way); to go down.

    “This policy plays well with younger voters.”

    “How will this play in the swing states?”

27. To gamble.

    ““I play, comparatively, very little; I don't drink a fifth part so much as half the people I live with; and I reckon myself, upon the whole, a very orderly, sober fellow.””

28. (transitive)To keep in play, as a hooked fish in order to land it.
29. (colloquial, transitive)To manipulate, deceive, or swindle.

    “You played me!”

    “If this our song, you're the composer / I'm not a game, but you play me anyway”

30. (intransitive)To kid; to joke; to say something for amusement; to act, or to treat something, unseriously.

    “They don't play with the rules around here.”

    “He grew serious. “Sorry, E.M. Just fucking around.” “Well, I don’t play like that and you know it.””

31. (intransitive)To take part in amorous activity; to make love; see also play around.

    “Her proper face / I not descerned in that darkesome shade, / But weend it was my loue, with whom he playd.”

    “Cheree, Cheree / Je t'adore, baby / I love you / Oh, come play with me”

32. For additional senses in various idiomatic phrases, see the individual entries, such as play along, play at, play down, play off, play on, play out, play to, play up, etc.

noun

1. (uncountable)Activity for amusement only, especially among the young.

   “Children learn through play.”

   “She was fond of all boys' plays, and greatly preferred cricket […] to dolls […]”

   “1964, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure You know, when I was around 7-11 years old, my favorite play would be "boys." One of us, Bridget, Maryellen, or I, would say "Let's play boys." We all had boy names, set up the pretend surroundings, and acted like boys.”

2. (uncountable)Similar activity in young animals, as they explore their environment and learn new skills.

   “This kind of play helps the young lion cubs develop their hunting skills.”

3. (uncountable)The conduct, or course, of a game.

   “Play was very slow in the first half.”

   “After the rain break, play resumed at 3 o'clock.”

   “The game was abandoned after 20 minutes' play”

4. (also, figuratively, uncountable)The sphere or circumstance in which a playing implement, such as a ball, is played or available to be played (see also in play, out of play).

   “In potting the yellow ball, he's knocked the green into play.”

   “When a chess piece is captured, it is removed from play.”

   “That option has been removed from play.”

   “Sure enough, the text also teases the return of the weapon in an upcoming dungeon. Honestly, we're so power crept these days it will probably need a buff to see play.”

5. (uncountable)An individual's performance in a sport or game.

   “His play has improved a lot this season.”

6. (countable)A short sequence of action within a game.

   “That was a great play by the Mudchester Rovers forward.”

7. (countable, uncountable)A short sequence of action within a game.

   “AWARD is better than either WARED or WADER. However, there's an even better play! If you have looked at the two-to-make-three letter list, you may have noticed the word AWA.”

8. (countable)A literary composition, intended to be represented by actors impersonating the characters and speaking the dialogue.

   “This book contains all of Shakespeare's plays.”

9. (countable)A theatrical performance featuring actors.

   “We saw a two-act play in the theatre.”

   “My kids are acting in the school play this Christmas.”

10. (countable)An attempt to move forward, as in a plan or strategy, for example by a business, investor, or political party.

    “ABC Widgets makes a play in the bicycle market with its bid to take over Acme Sprockets.”

    “Turpin signals the Metric Party's long-term play for housing reform”

11. (countable)A geological formation that contains an accumulation or prospect of hydrocarbons or other resources.
12. (uncountable)Movement (of a pattern of light etc.)

    “the play of light and shadow across the boy's face”

    “the sum of mental and physical phenomena known by the conventional name “person” or “individual” is not at all the mere play of blind chance.”

13. (uncountable)Freedom to move.

    “give play to your imagination”

14. (countable, uncountable)Freedom to move.

    “No wonder the fanbelt is slipping: there’s too much play in it.”

    “Too much play in a steering wheel may be dangerous.”

15. (informal, uncountable)Sexual activity or sexual role-playing.

    “petplay”

    “Sexy LF novice seeks seasoned top to spice up my play life. Teach me a lesson I won't forget.”

    “The rarity of male domination in fantasy play is readily explained.”

    “Palm Springs M seeks sane F 4 safe bdsm play”

    “There were none of the usual restrictions on public nudity or sexual interaction in the club environment. Still, the night was young, and as he'd made his way to the bar to order Mistress Ramona a gin and tonic, he'd seen little in the way of play.”

16. (countable)An instance of watching or listening to media.

    “That video of my cat falling off the piano has had ten thousand plays.”

    “The most-streamed artist of the year was British singer Ed Sheeran, who amassed 860 million plays with hits like “I See Fire.””

17. (countable, uncountable)An instance or instances of causing media to be watched or heard, such as by broadcasting.

    “Their single got a play on the radio.”

    “The song got a lot of play in the clubs.”

18. (countable)A button that, when pressed, causes media to be played.

    “press play”

19. (countable)An instance of wordplay.

    “play on words”

    “The name Wiktionary is a play on the words wiki and dictionary.”

20. (archaic, countable, in-compounds, uncountable, usually)Activity relating to martial combat or fighting.

    “handplay, swordplay”

name

1. Dave & Buster's.

   “Dave and Buster’s (PLAY), the popular restaurant and entertainment chain, is getting into the betting business.”