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
Their young generation has matured quickly, they play with a clear identity and they combine technical quality with tactical discipline.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026
In an attempt to find other boys who might want to play with Bobby, Regina wrote to the chess editor of the Brooklyn Eagle to see if he knew of any seven-year-old players.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
