Play — Defs

01 v. i. To engage in sport or lively recreation; to exercise for the sake of amusement; to frolic; to spot.

imp. & p. p. Played; p. pr. & vb. n. Playing

1.
To engage in sport or lively recreation; to exercise for the sake of amusement; to frolic; to spot.
“As Cannace was playing in her walk.” — Chaucer.

“The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy reason, would he skip and play!” — Pope.

“And some, the darlings of their Lord, Play smiling with the flame and sword.” — Keble.
2.
To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.
““Nay,” quod this monk, “I have no lust to pleye.”” — Chaucer.

“Men are apt to play with their healths.” — Sir W. Temple.
3.
To contend, or take part, in a game; as, to play ball; hence, to gamble; as, he played for heavy stakes.
4.
To perform on an instrument of music; as, to play on a flute.
“One that . . . can play well on an instrument.” — Ezek. xxxiii. 32.

“Play, my friend, and charm the charmer.” — Granville.
5.
To act; to behave; to practice deception.
“His mother played false with a smith.” — Shak.
6.
To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate; to act; as, the fountain plays.
“The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play.” — Cheyne.
7.
To move gayly; to wanton; to disport.
“Even as the waving sedges play with wind.” — Shak.

“The setting sun Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets.” — Addison.

“All fame is foreign but of true desert, Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart.” — Pope.
8.
To act on the stage; to personate a character.
“A lord will hear your play to-night.” — Shak.

“Courts are theaters where some men play.” — Donne.

“Art thou alive? Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight.” — Shak.

02 v. t. To put in action or motion; as, to play cannon upon a fortification; to play a trump.

1.
To put in action or motion; as, to play cannon upon a fortification; to play a trump.
“First Peace and Silence all disputes control, Then Order plays the soul.” — Herbert.
2.
To perform music upon; as, to play the flute or the organ.
3.
To perform, as a piece of music, on an instrument; as, to play a waltz on the violin.
4.
To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute; as, to play tricks.
“Nature here Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will Her virgin fancies.” — Milton.
5.
To act or perform (a play); to represent in music action; as, to play a comedy; also, to act in the character of; to represent by acting; to simulate; to behave like; as, to play King Lear; to play the woman.
“Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt.” — Sir W. Scott.
6.
To engage in, or go together with, as a contest for amusement or for a wager or prize; as, to play a game at baseball.
7.
To keep in play, as a hooked fish, in order to land it.

Phrases & compounds

To play hob — to play the part of a mischievous spirit; to work mischief.

To play off — to display; to show; to put in exercise; as, to play off tricks.

To play one's cards — to manage one's means or opportunities; to contrive.

Played out — tired out; exhausted; at the end of one's resources.

03 n. Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols.

1.
Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols.
2.
Any exercise, or series of actions, intended for amusement or diversion; a game.
“John naturally loved rough play.” — Arbuthnot.
3.
The act or practice of contending for victory, amusement, or a prize, as at dice, cards, or billiards; gaming; as, to lose a fortune in play.
4.
Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair play; sword play; a play of wit.
5.
A dramatic composition; a comedy or tragedy; a composition in which characters are represented by dialogue and action.
“A play ought to be a just image of human nature.” — Dryden.
6.
The representation or exhibition of a comedy or tragedy; as, he attends ever play.
7.
Performance on an instrument of music.
8.
Motion; movement, regular or irregular; as, the play of a wheel or piston; hence, also, room for motion; free and easy action.
“The joints are let exactly into one another, that they have no play between them.” — Moxon.
9.
Hence, liberty of acting; room for enlargement or display; scope; as, to give full play to mirth.
“I, with two more to help me, Will hold the foe in play.” — Macaulay.

Phrases & compounds

Play actor — an actor of dramas.

Play debt — a gambling debt.

Play pleasure — idle amusement.

A play upon words — the use of a word in such a way as to be capable of double meaning; punning.

Play of colors — prismatic variation of colors.

To bring into play — to bring or come into use or exercise.

To hold in play — to keep occupied or employed.