play fair

1. Behave honestly and honorably, obey the rules, as in Not every supplier we deal with plays fair, or We can't just leave them to find their own way back—that's not playing fair. Although this idiom conjures up playing by the rules in some game or sport, it actually has been used in this figurative way since the mid-1400s. Also see play the game.

Example Sentences

Can McLaren continue to play fair and stop Verstappen?

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Do McLaren have to face the truth of F1 now - that if you want to win, you can't always play fair?

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Can politicians still show character and play fair, or is good sportsmanship these days a one-way ticket to political failure?

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“We can’t sit on the sidelines anymore and just hope that the far right will play fair or play by the rule book,” said Von Wilpert, 42.

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“But we’re dealing with a radical left group of lunatics, and they don’t play fair and they never did.”

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Related Words

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