play at

Idioms  

1. Do or take part in half-heartedly, as in She was just playing at keeping house, letting the others do all the work. [Mid-1800s]

---

Example Sentences

Beck received $4 million for having sought and won that eligibility extension to play at Miami, CBS has reported.

From MarketWatch

The Rams and Seattle Seahawks will play at 3:30 p.m.

From Los Angeles Times

Disneyland isn’t so much an escape from our world as it is a place where we go to make sense of it, a work of live theater where we, the guests, are on a stage and can play at idealized versions of ourselves.

From Los Angeles Times

City leaned into playing in a more transitional and direct style of play at the start of the season, making use of the pace of players like Jeremy Doku, Tijjani Reijnders and of course, Erling Haaland - scoring more fast breaks this season than during their 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons combined.

From BBC

Edward James Olmos: I remember I had been doing theater for years, and I was walking out of an audition for another play at the Mark Taper Forum when I heard someone say, “Hey, do you want to try out for a play?”

From Los Angeles Times