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.
Canada are not prolific scorers either but, like any Jesse Marsch team, the co-hosts will play with high intensity and press the ball.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
They play with perspective, color, space and time to illuminate postwar American tensions, be they racial, political or existential.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
“It’s fun, but not the kind of thing to play with all day. It’s your money, so it’s serious. But it’s also dynamic and you come back to it when your life evolves.”
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
His final pitch was a crucial one, inducing an inning-ending double play with runners on the corners to hold the game at 1-0.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026
Chicken loved the pizzeria that gave them balls of fresh dough to play with, but their doors were locked until dinnertime.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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.
