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Showing results for play for time. Search instead for play on-line.
Synonyms

play for time

Idioms  

  1. Use delaying tactics, temporize, as in The defense attorney decided to play for time while they searched for an eyewitness. [c. 1940]

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.

Might they just want to play for time, see how LIV reacts as contracts with several of their initial crop of players begin to expire?

From BBC • Oct. 7, 2024

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, is known as a man who likes to play for time and postpone big decisions.

From New York Times • May 8, 2024

In some cases, the lawsuits may only be a play for time.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 27, 2022

“He’s dictating the march. … We could play for time, but he can play for time, too. In a way he’s already playing for time now, stretching out some of these talks” with the West.

From Washington Times • Jan. 24, 2022

But no feasible plan of escape presented itself, and the boy knew that his only chance was to play for time in hope that something might turn up.

From Connie Morgan in the Fur Country by Hendryx, James B. (James Beardsley)

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.