play

From Middle English pleyen, playen, pleȝen, plæien, also Middle English plaȝen, plawen (compare English plaw), from Old English pleġan, pleoġan, plæġan, and Old English plegian, pleagian, plagian (“to play, exercise, etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *plehan (“to care about, be concerned with”) and Proto-West Germanic *plegōn (“to engage, move”); both perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *blek- (“to move, move about”), from Proto-Indo-European *bal- (compare Ancient Greek βλύω (blúō), βλύζω (blúzō, “I gush out, spring”), Sanskrit बल्बलीति (balbalīti, “it whirls, twirls”)).

The noun is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, plega, plæġa (“play, quick motion, movement, exercise; (athletic) sport, game; festivity, drama; battle; gear for games, an implement for a game; clapping with the hands, applause”), deverbative of plegian (“to play”); see above.

• enPR: plā, IPA^(key): /pleɪ/,

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

play (third-person singular simple present plays, present participle playing, simple past and past participle played)

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.

   • 2001, Annabelle Sabloff, Reordering the Natural World, Univ. of Toronto Press, page 83:

     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. (intransitive, especially with 'with'; see also play with) 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.

   • a. 1700 (date written), William Temple, “Of Health and Long-life”, in Miscellanea. The Third Part. , London: Jonathan Swift,  Benjamin Tooke, , published 1701, →OCLC, page 167:

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

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

   Hypernym: try

   Hyponym: replay

   He plays on three teams.

   Who's playing now?

   play football, play sports, play games

   1. Specifying a particular sporting role or position.

      He plays left back for Mudchester Rovers

   2. (transitive) To compete against, in a game.

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

      • 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport:

        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.

   3. (transitive, in the scoring of games and sports) To be the opposing score to.

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

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

   to play safe, to play fair, to play dirty

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     His mother played false with a smith.

   • 1977, “Dreams”, in Stevie Nicks (lyrics), Fleetwood Mac (music), Rumours‎, performed by Stevie Nicks:

     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

   1. To give a false appearance of being; to pretend to be.

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

      • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. , volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. , →OCLC:

        Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt.

      • 1985, Sharon S. Brehm, Intimate Relationships:

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

      • 1996, Michael P. Malone, James J Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest:

        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.

      • 2003, John U. Ogbu, Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement, page 194:

        Instead, they played dumb, remained silent, and did their classwork.

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

   Stop playing the fool.

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

   • 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

     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.

   1. To portray (a character) in (a film or theatre).

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

      • 1983 December 3, Michael Wilson, “The Same Story Embellished”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 20, page 12:

        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.

      • 1984, Chris Robinson, commercial for Vicks Formula 44:

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

      • 2023 June 29, City AM, London, page 18, column 2:

        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.

6. (transitive, intransitive) To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.
   1. (transitive, intransitive, especially of a person) To produce music using a musical instrument.

      Synonyms: cook, jam; see also Thesaurus:play music

      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.

   2. (intransitive, of a musical instrument) To produce music.

      This piano plays out of tune.

      • 2007, Dan Erlewine, Guitar Player Repair Guide, →ISBN, page 220:

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

   3. (transitive, of a person) To operate (a device or media) so as to cause sound (especially music) or moving pictures to be produced.

      You can play the DVD now.

      Don't play your radio so loud!

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

   4. (transitive, usually of a person) To render (a musical title, compositional style, film title, etc.) using a musical instrument or device.

      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.

   5. (transitive, intransitive, of a device, media, broadcast, etc.) To emit or relay sound (especially music) or moving pictures; (of a device) to operate media.

      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.

   6. (intransitive, of a theatrical performance, film or music) To be performed, reproduced, or shown.

      His latest film is playing in the local theatre tomorrow.

      Some kind of lounge music was playing in the background.

   7. (transitive, of a theatrical company or band, etc.) To perform or give performances in or at (a venue or location).

      The band is playing large arenas nationwide.

      • 2008, My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown, →ISBN, page 30:

        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?"

   8. (transitive) To act or perform (a play).

      to play a comedy

7. (transitive, intransitive) To move briskly, sweepingly, back and forth, in a directed manner, etc.
   1. To move in a light or brisk manner.

      The fountain plays.

      The leaves played in the wind.

      • 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. , (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: Printed for J Wilford, , →OCLC:

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

   2. To move so as to fall upon or sweep across something, or to direct or operate (something) in such a manner.

      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

      • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. , London: J Tonson, , published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, page 1:

        The setting sun
        Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets.

      • 1908, W B M Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

        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.

      • 1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull:

        The Poet and the Painter
        Casting shadows on the water
        As the sun plays on the infantry
        Returning from the sea.

   3. To move in an alternating or reciprocal manner; to move to and fro.
      • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

        the waving sedges play with wind

      • 1705, George Cheyne, Philosophical Principles of Religion:

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

8. (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

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker ; nd by Robert Boulter ; nd Matthias Walker, , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:

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

   • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC:

     The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

9. (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.

10. (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.

11. (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?

12. To gamble.
    • 1791, Charlotte Smith, Celestina, Broadview, published 2004, page 407:

      “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.”

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

    Synonym: defraud

    You played me!

    • 2020, “Ballad Of You & I”, performed by Hotel Lux:

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

15. (African-American Vernacular, intransitive) To kid; to joke; to say something for amusement; to act, or to treat something, unseriously.
    • 2016, T. Styles, “seventeen”, in Clown Niggas‎, United States of America: The Cartel Publications, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 161:

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

    They don't play with the rules around here.

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

    Synonyms: get it on, make out, have sex; see also Thesaurus:copulate

    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

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

    • 1977, “Cheree”, in Suicide, performed by Suicide:

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

17. 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.

• → Kashubian: plejowac (Canada, United States)

play (countable and uncountable, plural plays)

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

   Children learn through play.

   • 1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. , volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, , 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:

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

   His play has improved a lot this season.

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

   That was a great play by the Mudchester Rovers forward.

   1. (turn-based games) An action carried out when it is one's turn to play.

      Synonym: move

      • 2009, Joe Edley, John Williams, Everything Scrabble: Third Edition, page 85:

        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.

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

   Synonyms: drama, script; see also Thesaurus:drama

   Hyponyms: screenplay, teleplay, telescript

   This book contains all of Shakespeare's plays.

8. (countable) A theatrical performance featuring actors.

   We saw a two-act play in the theatre.

9. (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

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

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

    • 1956, Nyanatiloka Mahåthera, Fundamentals of Buddhism Four Lectures:

      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.

12. (uncountable) Freedom to move.

    give play to your imagination

    1. The extent to which a part of a mechanism can move freely, as for example lash, backlash, or slack.

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

       Too much play in a steering wheel may be dangerous.

13. (uncountable, informal) Sexual activity or sexual role-playing.
    • 1990 December 9, “Butch In The Streets, Bottom Between The Sheets (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 17:

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

    • 1996, Sabrina P Ramet, Gender reversals and gender cultures:

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

    • 1996, "toptigger", (on Internet newsgroup alt.personals.spanking.punishment)

      Palm Springs M seeks sane F 4 safe bdsm play

    • 2013, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Best Bondage Erotica 2014:

      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.

    • 2014, Jiri T. Servant, Facts About Bondage - Bondage Guide For Beginners:

      This type of play allows some people to relax and enjoy being given pleasure without having to think about giving pleasure back at the same time.

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

    Synonyms: (of visual media) view, (of audio) listen

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

    • 2014 December 3, Victor Luckerson, “These Were Spotify's Most-Streamed Songs This Year”, in Time‎:

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

15. (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.

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

    press play

17. (countable) An instance of wordplay.

    play on words

    Wiktionary is a play on the words wiki and dictionary.

18. (archaic, now usually in compounds) Activity relating to martial combat or fighting.

    handplay, swordplay