play

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“

Then I am very happy--very happy indeed-- because the play is a short play, a remarkably short play.

—Scarborough and the Critic

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Definitions (230)

American Heritage Dictionary (83)

intransitive verb To occupy oneself in amusement, sport, or other recreation: children playing with toys.
intransitive verb To take part in a game: No minors are eligible to play.
intransitive verb To participate in betting; gamble.

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Century Dictionary (92)

To move lightly and quickly; move with a brisk, lively, and more or less irregular and capricious motion, as water in waves or in a fountain, light and shadow on agitated water, leaves in the wind, tremulous flames, etc.; flutter; flicker; dart; dance; in mech., to move freely. And Cytherea all in sedges hid, Which seem to move and wanton with her breath, Even as the waving sedges play with wind. Shak., T. of the S., Ind., ii. 55. Bnt soon their pleasures pass'd; at noon of day The sun with sultry beams began to play. Dryden, Flower and Leaf, l. 373. This [garden] of the Tuilleries is vastly great, has shaded Tarrasses on two sides, one along the River Seine, planted with Trees, very diverting, with great Parters in the middle, and large Fountains of Water, which constantly Play. Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 181. The self-same shadows now as then Play through this grassy upland glen. M. Arnold, Resignation. And hark the clock within, the silver knell Of twelve sweet hours that past in bridal white, And died to live, long as my pulses play. Tennyson, Maud, xviii. 8. The window was open, and barbs of fire, like serpents' tongues, played over it R. D. Blackmore, Erema, I. 211. The motion [of an anchor] may be limited by a second pin through the shoulder, playing in a long hole in the flukes. Luce, Seamanship, p. 233.
To engage in active exercise; exercise or contend in any way, but especially with weapons; technically, to contend with swords or sticks; fence: said of persons. Us he dude lede Into a galeie With the se to pleie. King Horn (E. E. T. S.), l. 186. Betere him were in Scotlond, With is ax in ys hond, To pleyen o the grene. Execution of Sir Simon Fraser (Child's Ballads, VI. 282). When yon play at weapons, I would have you get thick caps and bracers [gloves]. Sir P. Sidney (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 309). And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. 2 Sam. ii. 14. He sends to know if your pleasure hold to play with Laertes. Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 206.
To contend in a game of skill or chance: as, to play at chess or cards; specifically, to gamble. He wule come the nier And bidde the pleie at the escheker. Whane thescheker is forth ibroʒt Bithute panes ne plei thu noʒt Floriz and Blaunchelur (E. E. T. S.), l. 344. He made him to ben clept Melechmanser: the whiche on a Day pleyed at the Chesse, and his Swerd lay besyde him. Mandeville, Travels, p. 37. I'll follow The ladies, play at cards, make sport, and whistle. Ford, Lady's Trial, v. 2. After they [the Chinese] have lost their Money. Goods, and Cloaths, they will stake down their Wives and Children: and lastly, as the dearest thing they have, will play upon tick, and mortgage their Hair upon honour. Dampier, Voyages, II. i. 42.

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WordNet (52)

the act using a sword (or other weapon) vigorously and skillfully
the act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning (including the payment of a price for a chance to win a prize)
activity by children that is guided more by imagination than by fixed rules
(game) the activity of doing something in an agreed succession
gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement
a deliberate coordinated movement requiring dexterity and skill
a preset plan of action in team sports
an attempt to get something
utilization or exercise
movement or space for movement
verbal wit or mockery (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously)
a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
a theatrical performance of a drama
a weak and tremulous light
the removal of constraints
a state in which action is feasible
(in games or plays or other performances) the time during which play proceeds
engage in an activity as if it were a game rather than take it seriously
pretend to have certain qualities or state of mind
exhaust by allowing to pull on the line
consider not very seriously
participate in games or sport
contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle
employ in a game or in a specific position
use or move
shoot or hit in a particular manner
bet or wager (money)
put (a card or piece) into play during a game, or act strategically as if in a card game
stake on the outcome of an issue
make bets
use to one's advantage
discharge or direct or be discharged or directed as if in a continuous stream
manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination
cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
perform on a certain location
be performed or presented for public viewing
cause to emit recorded audio or video
emit recorded sound
play a role or part
perform on a stage or theater
pretend to be somebody in the framework of a game or playful activity
replay (as a melody)
play on an instrument
perform music on (a musical instrument)
move or seem to move quickly, lightly, or irregularly
cause to move or operate freely within a bounded space
act or have an effect in a specified way or with a specific effect or outcome
engage in recreational activities rather than work; occupy oneself in a diversion
be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children
behave carelessly or indifferently
behave in a certain way
be received or accepted or interpreted in a specific way

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Examples (50)

The second hand in the play was the reviser of 1592 who introduced the Talbot passages. — Shakespeare's Lost Years in London, 1586-1592
Personally, I felt that the threatened "Indian Summer" was not likely to be much warmer than the ordinary English kind Perhaps the most intriguing feature of the play was the author's attitude toward her own sex. — Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, June 17, 1914
Heaut TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES MONTAGUE, ONE OF THE LORDS OF THE TREASURY Sir,--I heartily wish this play were as perfect as I intended it, that it might be more worthy your acceptance, and that my dedication of it to you might be more becoming that honour and esteem which I, with everybody who is so fortunate as to know you, have for you. — The Comedies of William Congreve Volume 1 [of 2]
Financially the play was a success, and better yet was the pension and the good-will of the young King and his Regent Thus at twenty-two did Voltaire have the world at his feet When Voltaire was twenty-four, his father died. — Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great Philosophers, Volume 8
On grounds alike of aesthetic criticism and metrical tests, a substantial portion of the play was assigned to Shakespeare by Charles Lamb, Coleridge, and Dyce. — A Life of William Shakespeare with portraits and facsimiles

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game · story · drama · music · character · action · speech · art · exercise

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English playen, from Old English plegian; see dlegh- in Indo-European roots.

Century Dictionary (2)

from Middle English playen, pleyen, pleien, pteʒen, also plawen, plahen, plaʒen, from Anglo-Saxon plegan (preterit plægde), plegian, plegean, plægian (preterit plegode, plegede, pleogede), plagian (preterit plagade), move briskly, play, amuse oneself, exercise, strive, play on an instrument, clap the hands, etc., = Old Saxon plegan = OFries. plegia, pligia, be wont or accustomed, use, = D, plegen, be wont or accustomed, use, commit, = Middle Low German Low German plegen = Old High German phlegan, pflegan, plegen, Middle High German phlegen, pflegen, German pflegen, be wont or accustomed, care for, cherish, administer, indulge, apply, etc., = Icelandic plaga = Swedish pläga, be wont or accustomed, use, entertain, treat, = Danish pleje, be accustomed; the Anglo-Saxon senses refer only to physical activity, the orig. sense of all the forms being apparently ‘be in action,’ whence ‘be busy,’ ‘be concerned’ (with a thing), ‘be wont or accustomed’ (to do something), senses leading to those of the derivative plight. Hence play, n., and plight.
from Middle English play, pley, pleye, pleie, pkeʒe, also plawe, plahe, plaʒae, from Anglo-Saxon plega, brisk motion, play, sport, game, also fight, battle (cf. OFries. plega, pliga, custom, habit, practice, Middle Low German plege, care, custom, also plane, Low German plege, Old High German phlega, Middle High German phlege, pflege, German pflege, care, nursing, custom, etc., Icelandic plng, manner, Danish pleje, nursing, tendance, care, maintenance, cultivation, encouragement, administration, etc.); from the verb: see play, v.

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