play out
Britishverb
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(tr) to finish
let's play the game out if we aren't too late
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informal (tr; often passive) to use up or exhaust
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(tr) to release gradually
he played the rope out
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(intr) to happen or turn out
Let's wait and see how things play out
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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]
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Unwind, unreel, as in They slowly played out the cable . Also see played out .
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.
Branches splay out widely and become roosting places for choirs of myna birds.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2023
Like others in the prayer plant family, the striking pink-and-green stromanthe’s leaves fold upward at night and splay out a bit when it’s sunny.
From Washington Post • Apr. 6, 2022
The 3- to 3-and-a-half-inch-diameter pipes, arranged in a 16-foot circle at the base, will splay out as they climb to 45 feet.
From Washington Times • Jul. 17, 2016
The video demonstrates a reflex called the Babinski reflex, in which the foot flexes dorsally and the toes splay out when the sole of the foot is lightly scratched.
From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013
His upper teeth are small and splay out.
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
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.
