play with
Britishverb
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to consider without giving deep thought to or coming to a conclusion concerning
we're playing with the idea of emigrating
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to behave carelessly with
to play with a girl's affections
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to fiddle or mess about with
he's just playing with his food
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.
But there may be a force at play with an even firmer hold on the American man: gas prices.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
Killer whales are highly intelligent apex predators and have been known to play with their prey and deploy sophisticated tactics to ensnare them.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
In family playrooms, the researchers watched young kids play with Lego sets, and came away with three conclusions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Then I go back and play with it some more.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
"Anastasia won't play with me because she's busy writing a code," he said.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
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.
