play possum

Cultural  

1. To pretend to be dead, a trick used by opossums to defend themselves from predators: “Everyone thought the old con man had died, but it turned out he was just playing possum.” By extension, it also means “to pretend to be asleep, or to lie low”: “Come on, Harry, open your door. You can't play possum forever.”

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play possum Idioms  

1. Pretend to be dead or asleep, as in Max always plays possum when it's time to clean up his room. This expression alludes to the fact that the opossum falls into an apparent coma when caught, giving the appearance of death. [1820s]

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Example Sentences

After running the simulation thousands of times, the researchers found that “playing possum” indeed helped the antlions: It increased the survival rate in a given patch by about 20 percent.

From New York Times

At first, I considered playing possum — not responding.

From Los Angeles Times

Someone might be playing possum with great cards, but it’s worth putting out a larger bet to see if you can exploit their weakness and scare them into folding.

From Golf Digest

After Soto carried his bat to within one step of first base, then dropped it, he played possum.

From Washington Post

Harvey may just be playing possum, as he already told The Guardian he has “measures in place should things escalate further.”

From Fox News