Definition of "play"

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

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

1. (transitive) To compete against, in a game.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.

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

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

(intransitive) To take part in amorous activity; to make love.  quotations  examples

To gamble.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To act as the indicated role, especially in a performance.  quotations  examples

(multiple senses, transitive, intransitive) To produce music or theatre.

1. (intransitive, of a music) To produce music.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

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

     2007, Dan Erlewine, Guitar Player Repair Guide, page 220

2. (intransitive, especially of a person) To produce music using a musical instrument.  examples

3. (transitive, especially of a person) To produce music (or a specified song or musical style) using (a specified musical instrument).  examples

4. (transitive, ergative) To use a device to watch or listen to the indicated recording.  examples

5. (intransitive, of a theatrical performance) To be performed; (or of a film) to be shown.  examples

6. (transitive, of a theatrical company or band, etc.) To perform in or at; to give performances in or at.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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?"

     2008, My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown, page 30

7. (transitive) To act or perform (a play).  examples

(multiple senses) To behave in a particular way.

1. (copulative) Contrary to fact, to give an appearance of being.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt.

     1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […]

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

     1985, Sharon S. Brehm, Intimate Relationships

   • 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.

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

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

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

2. (intransitive) To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

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

     a. 1700, William Temple, “Of Health and Long-life”, in Miscellanea. The Third Part. [...], London: […] Jonathan Swift, […] Benjamin Tooke, […], published 1701, page 167

3. (intransitive) To act; to behave; to practice deception.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • His mother played false with a smith.

     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[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]

4. (transitive) To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

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

     1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,

   • 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.

     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

5. (African-American Vernacular, intransitive) To kid; to joke; say something for amusement.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

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

     2016, T. Styles, “seventeen”, in Clown Niggas‎, United States of America: The Cartel Publications, page 161

(transitive, intransitive) To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate.  quotations  examples

(intransitive) To move to and fro.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To put in action or motion.  examples

(transitive) To keep in play, as a hooked fish in order to land it.  examples

(transitive, colloquial) To manipulate, deceive, or swindle someone.  quotations  examples

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

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

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

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

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

(countable, turn-based games) An action carried out when it is one's turn to play.  quotations  examples

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

(countable) A theatrical performance featuring actors.  examples

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

(countable) A geological formation that contains an accumulation or prospect of hydrocarbons or other resources.  examples

(uncountable) Movement (of a pattern of light etc.)  quotations  examples

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

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

(countable) An instance of watching or listening to digital media.  quotations  examples

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

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