What is play?

More definitions of "play":

• (verb): Pretend to be somebody in the framework of a game or playful activity.
  Example: "Let's play like I am mommy"; "Play cowboy and Indians"

• (verb): Cause to move or operate freely within a bounded space.
  Example: "The engine has a wheel that is playing in a rack"

• (verb): Contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle.
  Example: "Charlie likes to play Mary"
  Synonyms: meet, encounter, take on

• (verb): Be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children.
  Example: "The kids were playing outside all day"; "I used to play with trucks as a little girl"

• (verb): Use to one's advantage.
  Example: "She plays on her clients' emotions"

• (noun): The act using a sword (or other weapon) vigorously and skillfully.
  Synonyms: swordplay

• (verb): Perform on a certain location.
  Example: "The prodigy played Carnegie Hall at the age of 16"; "She has been playing on Broadway for years"

• (verb): Cause to happen or to occur as a consequence.
  Example: "Play a joke"
  Synonyms: bring, work, wreak, make for

• (verb): Bet or wager (money).
  Example: "He played $20 on the new horse"; "She plays the races"

• (verb): Participate in games or sport.
  Example: "We played hockey all afternoon"; "play cards"; "Pele played for the Brazilian teams in many important matches"

• (verb): Stake on the outcome of an issue.
  Synonyms: bet, wager

• (noun): A dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage.
  Synonyms: drama, dramatic play

• (noun): The removal of constraints.
  Example: "They gave full play to the artist's talent"
  Synonyms: free rein

• (noun): Gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement.
  Example: "It was all done in play"
  Synonyms: frolic, romp, gambol, caper

• (verb): Pretend to have certain qualities or state of mind.
  Synonyms: act, act as

• (noun): Verbal wit (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously).
  Synonyms: fun, sport

• (verb): Put (a card or piece) into play during a game, or act strategically as if in a card game.
  Example: "He is playing his cards close to his chest"; "The Democrats still have some cards to play before they will concede the electoral victory"

• (verb): Manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination.
  Synonyms: toy, fiddle, diddle

• (verb): Play a role or part.
  Synonyms: act, represent

• (verb): Use or move.
  Example: "I had to play my queen"

• (verb): Employ in a game or in a specific position.
  Example: "They played him on first base"

• (verb): Behave carelessly or indifferently.
  Example: "Play about with a young girl's affection"
  Synonyms: dally, toy, flirt

• (verb): Perform on a stage or theater.
  Example: "She acts in this play"
  Synonyms: act, roleplay, playact

• (verb): Behave in a certain way.
  Example: "Play safe"; "play it safe"; "play fair"

• (verb): Be performed.
  Example: "What's playing in the local movie theater?"; "'Cats' has been playing on Broadway for many years"

• (verb): Exhaust by allowing to pull on the line.
  Example: "Play a hooked fish"

• (noun): Utilization or exercise.
  Example: "The play of the imagination"

• (verb): Move or seem to move quickly, lightly, or irregularly.
  Example: "The spotlights played on the politicians"

• (verb): Replay (as a melody).
  Example: "Play it again, Sam"
  Synonyms: spiel

• (noun): The activity of doing something in an agreed succession.
  Example: "It is still my play"
  Synonyms: turn

• (noun): A weak and tremulous light.
  Example: "The play of light on the water"
  Synonyms: shimmer

• (verb): Shoot or hit in a particular manner.
  Example: "She played a good backhand last night"

• (noun): A state in which action is feasible.
  Example: "The ball was still in play"; "insiders said the company's stock was in play"

• (noun): (in games or plays or other performances) the time during which play proceeds.
  Example: "Rain stopped play in the 4th inning"
  Synonyms: playing period, period of play

• (noun): A theatrical performance of a drama.
  Example: "The play lasted two hours"

• (verb): Cause to emit recorded sounds.
  Example: "Can you play my favorite record?"
  Synonyms: run

• (verb): Play on an instrument.
  Example: "The band played all night long"

• (noun): Movement or space for movement.
  Example: "There was too much play in the steering wheel"
  Synonyms: looseness

• (verb): Perform music on (a musical instrument).
  Example: "He plays the flute"; "Can you play on this old recorder?"

• (noun): Play by children that is guided more by imagination than by fixed rules.
  Example: "Freud believed in the utility of play to a small child"
  Synonyms: child's play

• (verb): Engage in recreational activities rather than work; occupy oneself in a diversion.
  Example: "On weekends I play"
  Synonyms: recreate

• (noun): The act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning (including the payment of a price for a chance to win a prize).
  Example: "There was heavy play at the blackjack table"
  Synonyms: gambling, gaming

• (verb): Act or have an effect in a specified way or with a specific effect or outcome.
  Example: "This factor played only a minor part in his decision"; "This development played into her hands"; "I played no role in your dismissal"

• (verb): Discharge or direct or be discharged or directed as if in a continuous stream.
  Example: "Play water from a hose"; "The fountains played all day"

• (verb): Emit recorded sound.
  Example: "The tape was playing for hours"; "the stereo was playing Beethoven when I entered"

• (noun): A deliberate coordinated movement requiring dexterity and skill.
  Example: "The runner was out on a play by the shortstop"
  Synonyms: maneuver, manoeuvre

• (verb): Be received or accepted or interpreted in a specific way.
  Example: "This speech didn't play well with the American public"; "His remarks played to the suspicions of the committee"

• (noun): A preset plan of action in team sports.
  Example: "The coach drew up the plays for her team"

• (verb): Consider not very seriously.
  Synonyms: dally, trifle

• (verb): Make bets.
  Example: "Play the reaces"; "play the casinos in Trouville"

• (noun): An attempt to get something.
  Example: "They made a futile play for power"
  Synonyms: bid

Famous quotes containing the word play:

“I suppose that Paderewski can play superbly, if not quite at his best, while his thoughts wander to the other end of the world, or possibly busy themselves with a computation of the receipts as he gazes out across the auditorium. I know a great actor, a master technician, can let his thoughts play truant from the scene ...”
—Minnie Maddern Fiske (1865–1932)

“It is easy to lose confidence in our natural ability to raise children. The true techniques for raising children are simple: Be with them, play with them, talk to them. You are not squandering their time no matter what the latest child development books say about “purposeful play” and “cognitive learning skills.””
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)

“The indispensable ingredient of any game worth its salt is that the children themselves play it and, if not its sole authors, share in its creation. Watching TV’s ersatz battles is not the same thing at all. Children act out their emotions, they don’t talk them out and they don’t watch them out. Their imagination and their muscles need each other.”
—Leontine Young (20th century)