play for
Idioms-
Take part for a particular reason, as in We're not playing for money, just for fun . A special usage of this idiom is play for laughs , that is, with the aim of arousing laughter.
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play someone for . Manage someone for one's own ends, make a fool of, dupe or cheat. For example, I resent your playing me for a fool , or He suddenly found out she'd been playing him for a sucker . This usage employs play in the sense of “exhaust a hooked fish,” that is, manage it on the line so that it exhausts itself. [Mid-1600s]
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.
Unfortunately for those fans who believed they had just witnessed a play for the ages, Cheffers wasn’t done talking.
Joe Root and Ben Stokes, the cornerstones of this current team and two of the greatest to ever play for England, have never won a Test here.
From BBC
"The hope was always that we would have something to play for still when we got there."
From BBC
Iwobi says he never thought he would play for Arsenal, Fulham, or Nigeria growing up, but he is "honoured and grateful" for his achievements.
From BBC
Williamson is no longer obliged to play for New Zealand, having signed a casual playing agreement that gives him freedom to pick and choose when he is available.
From Barron's
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.
