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• player
  player

  noun

  a person or thing that plays.
• Player
  Player

  noun

  Gary, born 1935, South African golfer.

player

¹ American  

[pley-er] / ˈpleɪ ər /

noun

players plural

1. a person or thing that plays.

2. a person who takes part or is skilled in some game or sport.

3. a person who plays parts on the stage; an actor.

4. a performer on a musical instrument.

5. Informal. a participant, as in a conference or business deal.

6. a machine or piece of software that reproduces sound or images: a videodisc player;

   a record player;

   a videodisc player;

   a digital media player.

7. a gambler.

8. Slang. a person engaged in illicit or illegal activity, especially a pimp.

9. a mechanical device by which a musical instrument, as a player piano, is played automatically.

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Player ² American  

[pley-er] / ˈpleɪ ər /

noun

1. Gary, born 1935, South African golfer.

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player ¹ British  

/ ˈpleɪə /

noun

1. a person who participates in or is skilled at some game or sport

2. a person who plays a game or sport professionally

3. a person who plays a musical instrument

4. an actor

5. informal a participant, esp a powerful one, in a particular field of activity

   a leading city player

6. See record player

7. the playing mechanism in a Pianola

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Player ² British  

/ ˈpleɪə /

noun

1. Gary (ˈɡærɪ). born 1935, South African golfer: winner of nine major championships (1959–78), including the British Open (1959, 1968, 1974)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• counterplayer
  noun
• nonplayer
  noun
• self-player
  noun
• superplayer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• players
  plural

Etymology

Origin of player

before 1000; Middle English pleyer, Old English plegere. See play, -er ¹

Explanation

If you like to play anything at all, you’re a player. If you take part in a game or sport, you're a player. If you're a big flirt, you’re a player. Like the kazoo? You’re a kazoo player. Play on! Some players play cards or tennis, and others play roles in theater productions. You could also call a musician a player, like a piano player or a flute player. Vital or influential people (or groups) are sometimes described this way too: "The president called a meeting of all the biggest political players." And finally, there are inanimate players, like music or radio players, or an MP3 player.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

player Player players

For a team that will spend almost half a billion dollars on its player payroll and luxury tax this season, its most important trade deadline pickup could be a catcher making maybe $1 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

But if no player comes through the system, it could be a necessity.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

“What’s important is that it doesn’t replace the physical play. You want the technology to animate the player and to be shareable. If the Smart Play technology achieves that, it’ll be very sustainable.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

Too often, soccer institutions seem willing to tolerate serious allegations when the player in question remains valuable on the field.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026

The piano player slumped in the seat with his eyes closed.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Manzambi was named Europa League Young Player of the Season and scored seven goals in 47 appearances in all competitions last term, as Freiburg finished seventh in the German Bundesliga.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Like Messi, Bellingham has won four man-of-the-match awards - or Superior Player of the Match as Fifa likes to call them - so far, which is incredible.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Cole Palmer, the Chelsea playmaker who was named Best Player at last summer’s Club World Cup, was among those left out of England’s squad.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

For the No. 10 position, it has Jude Bellingham, one of the world’s best young players, and Morgan Rogers, who was just named the Premier League’s Young Player of the Season.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

Acererak slapped the Two Player button, and my eyes locked on the screen.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

BBC Sport reported on Thursday how a number of key players had been left disappointed at how England were instructed to finish the game having taken the lead through Anthony Gordon.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

The problem for this World Cup is players are competing under active charges or investigations.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026

Unless a striker emerges in the next few years, or one of those young players fulfils their potential, England will have to think outside the box.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

He is one of the few players in MLB history to be named an All-Star as an infielder and outfielder.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

He was our right winger and one of the best players on the team.

From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola

Related Words

• athlete
• competitor
• member
• opponent
• participant
• pro
• professional
• rookie