play out

British  

verb

1. (tr) to finish

   let's play the game out if we aren't too late

2. informal (tr; often passive) to use up or exhaust

3. (tr) to release gradually

   he played the rope out

4. (intr) to happen or turn out

   Let's wait and see how things play out

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play out Idioms  

1. 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]

2. Unwind, unreel, as in They slowly played out the cable . Also see played out .

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

play out

Speaking on his East Lothian farm, Wyllie said that - in reality - that's probably not how things will play out.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

The U.S. bond market saw a similar story play out only a few weeks ago, when Bessent’s plan to at least double buybacks of long-dated government bonds only briefly paused the Treasury market selloff.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026

“Parents, teachers and others are much more educated having had this litigation publicly play out over the past year than they were two years ago,” McNally said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

The climate’s messy reality can collide with neat story lines about how the coming months will play out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

But events did not play out as Haig had planned.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• become
• come to be
• end up
• eventually be
• finish as
• turn out to be