play
participate in games or sport
How often you will meet it
Rank 537 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 36,199 times across 175,160 chapters — 0.017% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 1,000 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
verb
- participate in games or sport We played hockey all afternoonplay cards
- act or have an effect in a specified way or with a specific effect or outcome This factor played only a minor part in his decisionThis development played into her hands
- play on an instrument The band played all night long
- play a role or part also: act, represent Gielgud played HamletShe wants to act Lady Macbeth, but she is too young for the role
- be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children The kids were playing outside all dayI used to play with trucks as a little girl
- replay (as a melody) also: spiel Play it again, SamShe played the third movement very beautifully
play in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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They can sit at their ease and gape at the play.
The Picture of Dorian Gray · Oscar Wilde · Chapter 1
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At the first rehearsal have the children listen to a reading of the play.
The White Christmas and other Merry · Walter Ben Hare · Chapter 1
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And of all the women in the world, fate had sent this one to play the Lady Bountiful.
The Betrayal · E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim · Chapter 1
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Brant was a senior and a "Bones" man, and so had a leading part to play in the afternoon's drama.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1
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Her face brightened visibly, and as to Daisy, she sat down and began to play with the kitten on the spot.
The Palace Beautiful: A Story for Girls · L. T. Meade · Chapter 1