Play , v. t. -- To play hob, to play the part of a mischievous spirit; to work mischief.
Play , n.
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. "The next who comes in play." Dryden.
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. "To give them play, front and rear." Milton.
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.
Play actor, an actor of dramas.
Prynne. -- Play debt, a gambling debt. Arbuthnot. -- Play pleasure, idle amusement.
[Obs.]
Bacon. -- 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 come into play, to bring or come
into use or
exercise. -- To hold in play, to keep occupied or employed.
I, with two more to help me,
Will hold the foe in play.
Macaulay.
Play , v. t. 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.
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. [Colloq.]
Play (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Played (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Playing.]
[OE. pleien, AS. plegian, plegan, to
play, akin to plega play, game, quick motion, and probably to OS. plegan to promise, pledge, D. plegen to care for, attend to, be
wont, G. pflegen; of unknown origin. √28. Cf. Plight, n.]
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. To play
into a person's hands, to act, or to manage matters, to his advantage or benefit. -- To play off, to affect; to
feign; to practice artifice. --
To play upon. (a) To make sport
of; to deceive.
Art thou alive?
Or is it fantasy
that plays upon our eyesight.
Shak. (b) To use in a droll manner; to give a droll
expression or application to; as, to play
upon words.
Hear it pronounced