What is play?

More definitions of "play":

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

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

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

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

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

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

• (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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• (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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

• (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

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

• (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

• (noun): A dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage.
  Synonyms: drama, dramatic 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): 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): Perform music on (a musical instrument).
  Example: "He plays the flute"; "Can you play on this old recorder?"

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

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

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

• (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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Famous quotes containing the word play:

“But I shall hear without pain, that I play the courtier very ill, and talk of that which I do not well understand.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

“I bow’d not to thy image for succession,
Nor bound thy bow to shoot reformed kindness,
Thy plays of hope and fear were my confession,
The spectacles to my life was thy blindness;
But Cupid now farewell, I will go play me,
With thoughts that please me less and less betray me.”
—Fulke Greville (1554–1628)

“In 1600 the specialization of games and pastimes did not extend beyond infancy; after the age of three or four it decreased and disappeared. From then on the child played the same games as the adult, either with other children or with adults. . . . Conversely, adults used to play games which today only children play.”
—Philippe Ariés (20th century)