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.
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As Cannace was playing in her walk. Chaucer.
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The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,
Had he thy reason, would he skip and play! Pope.
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And some, the darlings of their Lord,
Play smiling with the flame and sword. Keble.
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2. To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.
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“Nay,” quod this monk, “I have no lust to pleye.” Chaucer.
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Men are apt to play with their healths. Sir W. Temple.
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3. To contend, or take part, in a game; as, to play ball; hence, to gamble; as, he played for heavy stakes.
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4. To perform on an instrument of music; as, to play on a flute.
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One that . . . can play well on an instrument. Ezek. xxxiii. 32.
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Play, my friend, and charm the charmer. Granville.
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5. To act; to behave; to practice deception.
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His mother played false with a smith. Shak.
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6. To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate; to act; as, the fountain plays.
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The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play. Cheyne.
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7. To move gayly; to wanton; to disport.
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Even as the waving sedges play with wind. Shak.
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The setting sun
Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets. Addison.
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All fame is foreign but of true desert,
Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart. Pope.
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8. To act on the stage; to personate a character.
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A lord will hear your play to-night. Shak.
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Courts are theaters where some men play. Donne.
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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.
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Art thou alive?
Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight. Shak.
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(b) To use in a droll manner; to give a droll expression or application to; as, to play upon words.
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Play, n. 1. Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols.
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2. Any exercise, or series of actions, intended for amusement or diversion; a game.
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John naturally loved rough play. Arbuthnot.
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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.
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4. Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair play; sword play; a play of wit. “The next who comes in play.” Dryden.
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5. A dramatic composition; a comedy or tragedy; a composition in which characters are represented by dialogue and action.
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A play ought to be a just image of human nature. Dryden.
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6. The representation or exhibition of a comedy or tragedy; as, he attends ever play.
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7. Performance on an instrument of music.
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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.
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The joints are let exactly into one another, that they have no play between them. Moxon.
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9. Hence, liberty of acting; room for enlargement or display; scope; as, to give full play to mirth.
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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.
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I, with two more to help me,
Will hold the foe in play. Macaulay.
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