play with
Britishverb
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to consider without giving deep thought to or coming to a conclusion concerning
we're playing with the idea of emigrating
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to behave carelessly with
to play with a girl's affections
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to fiddle or mess about with
he's just playing with his food
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.
The idea is not to make teams play with 10 men, but to make it such a clear deterrent that players do not waste time on substitutions.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
An Iceland player took too long to leave the field, so the team had to play with 10 men for more than two minutes.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
In addition to co-writing the play with Marshall Pailet, Slater portrayed mime artist Marcel Marceau.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
“It’s fun, but not the kind of thing to play with all day. It’s your money, so it’s serious. But it’s also dynamic and you come back to it when your life evolves.”
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
There’s a marching band of two performing in the living room, but they’re far too occupied by their noisemakers to play with us.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
