play ball
Idioms-
Cooperate, as in The opposing attorneys refused to play ball with us . [ Slang ; c. 1900]
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Get going, start, as in It's time to get a move on; let's play ball . This usage comes from the baseball umpire's call to start a game. [ Slang ; late 1800s]
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.
Yet many African nations were willing to play ball with the US tightening visas worldwide, the two ex-State Department officials said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
In the third inning, Betts fielded what could have been an inning-ending double play ball, but his relay from shortstop was wide of second baseman Tommy Edman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025
Current and former officials said that Russia’s increasing reliance on China means Beijing could play a productive role in bringing Putin to any peace deal—if Trump can convince it to play ball, that is.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
"But there is also something else, something more practical which is that we simply cannot solve a challenge like stopping the boats by acting alone and telling our allies that we won't play ball."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025
“Then I’ll play ball for another eight or nine years and then we’ll open a little business.”
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
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.
