- Play
- Play Play, n.
1. Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols.
[1913 Webster]
2. Any exercise, or series of actions, intended for amusement or diversion; a game. [1913 Webster]
John naturally loved rough play. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
4. Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair play; sword play; a play of wit. ``The next who comes in play.'' --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
5. A dramatic composition; a comedy or tragedy; a composition in which characters are represented by dialogue and action. [1913 Webster]
A play ought to be a just image of human nature. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
6. The representation or exhibition of a comedy or tragedy; as, he attends ever play. [1913 Webster]
7. Performance on an instrument of music. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
The joints are let exactly into one another, that they have no play between them. --Moxon. [1913 Webster]
9. Hence, liberty of acting; room for enlargement or display; scope; as, to give full play to mirth. [1913 Webster]
{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. [1913 Webster]
I, with two more to help me, Will hold the foe in play. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
