What is play?

More definitions of "play":

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

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

• (verb): Engage in an activity as if it were a game rather than take it seriously.
  Example: "Play the stockmarket"; "play with her feelings"
  Synonyms: toy

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

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

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

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

• (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"

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

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

• (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"

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

• (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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Famous quotes containing the word play:

“He was high and mighty. But the kindest creature to his slaves—and the unfortunate results of his bad ways were not sold, had not to jump over ice blocks. They were kept in full view and provided for handsomely in his will. His wife and daughters in the might of their purity and innocence are supposed never to dream of what is as plain before their eyes as the sunlight, and they play their parts of unsuspecting angels to the letter.”
—Anonymous Antebellum Confederate Women. Previously quoted by Mary Boykin Chesnut in Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, edited by C. Vann Woodward (1981)

“My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly say “I do not play bridge” is allowed to go over in the corner and run the pianola by himself, while the poor neophyte, no matter how much he may protest that he isn’t “at all a good player, in fact I’m perfectly rotten,” is never believed, but dragged into a game where it is discovered, too late, that he spoke the truth.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)

“If it be true that good wine needs no bush, ‘tis true that a
good play needs no epilogue.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)