play with
Britishverb
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to consider without giving deep thought to or coming to a conclusion concerning
we're playing with the idea of emigrating
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to behave carelessly with
to play with a girl's affections
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to fiddle or mess about with
he's just playing with his food
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But there may be a force at play with an even firmer hold on the American man: gas prices.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
Killer whales are highly intelligent apex predators and have been known to play with their prey and deploy sophisticated tactics to ensnare them.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Even just an extra hour in the evening means more time to play with your kids.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
In family playrooms, the researchers watched young kids play with Lego sets, and came away with three conclusions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
“Or we could play with those cars in the corner?”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
