play out
Britishverb
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(tr) to finish
let's play the game out if we aren't too late
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informal (tr; often passive) to use up or exhaust
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(tr) to release gradually
he played the rope out
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(intr) to happen or turn out
Let's wait and see how things play out
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Finish, run out, as in This extreme fashion will soon play out , or The tension between factions will surely play itself out by next year . [Late 1500s]
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Unwind, unreel, as in They slowly played out the cable . Also see played out .
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.
It may take a little longer for the oilfield-services story to play out than the upstream names, but I like the exposure.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
That prompted the pill’s manufacturers to file an emergency petition with the Supreme Court to put the Fifth Circuit order on ice while legal proceedings play out.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
I remember standing there with the amazing people of the cast and crew, and we’re talking about how the scene is going to play out.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026
Of course it didn't play out that way.
From BBC • May 10, 2026
Over and over she’d seen it play out in the minds of the men who’d done it—Eril-Fane’s most of all.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
