Play \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. [root]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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