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play

play - verb

  1. To occupy oneself with amusement or diversion: disport, recreate, sport. See work.
  2. To move one's fingers or hands in a nervous or aimless fashion: fiddle, fidget, fool, monkey, putter, tinker, toy, trifle, twiddle. See touch.
  3. To make a bet: bet, gamble, game, lay, wager. See gambling.
  4. To treat lightly or flippantly: dally, flirt, toy, trifle. See work.
  5. To play the part of: act, do, enact, impersonate, perform, play-act, portray, represent. See action. performing arts. substitute.
  6. To make music: perform. See performing arts.
  7. To perform according to one's artistic conception: execute, interpret, render. See performing arts.
  8. To be performed: run, show. See performing arts.
  9. To control to one's own advantage by artful or indirect means: exploit, maneuver, manipulate. See control. straight.
  10. To cause to undergo or bear (something unwelcome or damaging, for example): impose, inflict, visit, wreak. See give. over. willing.

play along - phrasal verb

  1. To agree to cooperate or participate: go along. See participate.

play around - phrasal verb

  1. To be sexually unfaithful to another: philander, womanize. Informal cheat, fool around, mess around. See sex.

play down - phrasal verb

  1. To make less emphatic or obvious: de-emphasize, tone down. Informal soft-pedal. See show.

play off - phrasal verb

  1. To place in opposition or be in opposition to: counter, match, oppose, pit. See support.

play out - phrasal verb

  1. To cause (a line) to become longer and less taut: unreel, unroll, unwind. See give.
  2. To use all of: consume, drain, draw down, eat up, exhaust, expend, finish, run through, spend, use up. Informal polish off. See increase.
  3. To make or become no longer active or productive: deplete, desiccate, dry up, give out, run out. See continue.

play up - phrasal verb

  1. To accord emphasis to: accent, accentuate, emphasize, feature, highlight, italicize, point up, stress, underline, underscore. See important.

play - noun

  1. Activity engaged in for relaxation and amusement: disport, diversion, fun, recreation, sport. See work.
  2. Actions taken as a joke: fun, game, sport. See work.
  3. The act of putting into play: application, employment, exercise, exertion, implementation, operation, usage, use, utilization. See used.
  4. Suitable opportunity to accept or allow something: elbowroom, latitude, leeway, margin, room, scope. See place. restraint.
  5. Ease of or space for movement: elbowroom, freedom. See tighten.