Play Definition

plā
played, playing, plays
verb
played, playing, plays
To take part in (a game or sport)
Webster's New World
To participate in betting; gamble.
American Heritage
To oppose (a person, team, etc.) in a game or contest.
Webster's New World
To behave in a teasing or joking manner; act in jest or sport.
She's not angry with you; she's just playing.
American Heritage
To do (something), as in fun or to deceive.
Play tricks.
Webster's New World
noun
plays
The performance of such a work.
American Heritage
Activity engaged in for amusement or recreation; sport, games, etc.; often, specif., the natural activities of children.
Webster's New World
Fun; joking.
To do a thing in play.
Webster's New World
The way or technique of playing a game.
Webster's New World
A dramatic composition or performance; drama.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
adjective
Not real; make-believe.
A board game using play money.
Webster's New World
idiom
in play
  • In a position to be legally or feasibly played:

    The ball is now in play.

  • In a position, or rumored to be in a position of possible corporate takeover:

    The company's stock rose in price when it was said to be in play.

American Heritage
out of play
  • Not in a position to be legally or feasibly played.
American Heritage
play ball
  • To cooperate:

    The opposing attorneys refused to play ball with us.

American Heritage
play both ends against the middle
  • To set opposing parties or interests against one another so as to advance one's own goals.
American Heritage
play fast and loose
  • To behave in a recklessly irresponsible or deceitful manner:

    played fast and loose with the facts.

American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Play

Noun

Singular:
play
Plural:
plays

Origin of Play

  • From Middle English playen, pleyen, pleȝen, plæien, also Middle English plaȝen, plawen (> English plaw), from Old English pleÄ¡an, pleoÄ¡an, plæġan, and Old English pleÄ¡ian, pleaÄ¡ian, plagian (“to play, move about sportively, frolic, dance; move rapidly; divert or amuse oneself, occupy or busy oneself; play a game, sport with, exercise, exercise one's self in any way for the sake of amusement; play with; play with a person, toy; strive after; play on an instrument; contend, fight; clap the hands, applaud; make sport of, mock; cohabit (with)"), from Proto-Germanic *pleganÄ…, *plehanÄ… (“to care about, be concerned with") and Proto-Germanic *plegōnÄ… (“to engage, move"); both perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *blek- (“to move, move about"), from Proto-Indo-European *bal- (compare Ancient Greek βλύω (bluō), βλύζω (bluzō, “I gush out, spring"), Sanskrit बल्बलीति (balbalÄ«ti, “it whirls, twirls")). Cognate with Scots play (“to act or move briskly, cause to move, stir"), Saterland Frisian plegia (“to look after, care for, maintain"), West Frisian pleegje, pliigje (“to commit, perform, bedrive"), Middle Dutch pleyen ("to dance, leap for joy, rejoice, be glad"; > Modern Dutch pleien (“to play a particular children's game")), Dutch plegen (“to commit, bedrive, practice"), German pflegen (“to care for, be concerned with, attend to, tend"), Danish pleie (“to tend to, nurse"), Swedish pläga (“to be wont to, be accustomed to"). Related also to Old English plÄ“on (“to risk, endanger"). More at plight, pledge.

    From Wiktionary

  • The noun is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleÄ¡a, 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 pleÄ¡ian (“to play"); see above.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English playen from Old English plegian dlegh- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English playen from Old English plegian dlegh- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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