play out

verb

1. (tr) to finish

   let's play the game out if we aren't too late

2. informal,  (tr; often passive) to use up or exhaust

3. (tr) to release gradually

   he played the rope out

4. (intr) to happen or turn out

   Let's wait and see how things play out

Idioms and Phrases

Finish, run out, as in This extreme fashion will soon play out , or The tension between factions will surely play itself out by next year . [Late 1500s]

Unwind, unreel, as in They slowly played out the cable . Also see played out .

Related Words

• become 
• come to be www.thesaurus.com
• end up 
• eventually be www.thesaurus.com
• finish as www.thesaurus.com
• turn out to be www.thesaurus.com