play for keeps
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a second go-around he’d have to play for keeps.
From Fox News ● Oct. 9, 2019
“Spring’s one thing, but when the lights turn on, these guys play for keeps and you’ve got to be able to compete. So, I’ve got to go down and get better.”
From Washington Times ● May 1, 2017
While some millennials are content to play "Money Tree" on their iPhones, others play for keeps.
From US News ● Mar. 18, 2015
He has clearly written the book as a personal game of survival for himself; and on his own particular desert island, the reader too is forced to play for keeps.
From Time Magazine Archive
The knockout possibilities knock Dorcas out because here—with grown-ups and as in war—people play for keeps.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
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.
