Don tried to play George against David, but they figured out what he was up to.
•Alice never managed to play Tom against Fred.
Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.
play — play1 [ pleı ] verb *** ▸ 1 take part in sport/game ▸ 2 make music/sound ▸ 3 have part in play, etc. ▸ 4 when children have fun ▸ 5 when light moves ▸ + PHRASES 1. ) intransitive or transitive to take part in a sport or game: The girls are out… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
play — 1 /pleI/ verb 1 CHILDREN (I, T) when children play, they do things that they enjoy, often together or with toys: The children ran off to play on the beach. | play sth: The boys were playing soldiers. | I don t want to play that game! (+ with):… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
play — play1 W1S1 [pleı] v ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(children)¦ 2¦(sports/games)¦ 3¦(music)¦ 4¦(radio/cd etc)¦ 5¦(theatre/film)¦ 6 play a part/role 7 play ball 8¦(pretend)¦ 9¦(behave)¦ 10 play games … Dictionary of contemporary English
play */*/*/ — I UK [pleɪ] / US verb Word forms play : present tense I/you/we/they play he/she/it plays present participle playing past tense played past participle played 1) [intransitive/transitive] to take part in a sport or game The children were playing… … English dictionary
Somebody Else's Problem — (also known as Someone else s problem or SEP ) is an effect that causes people to ignore matters which are generally important to a group but may not seem specifically important to the individual. Author Douglas Adams s description of the effect … Wikipedia
steal someone's thunder — 1. To make use of another s invention against him or her (as when John Dennis s stage thunder was used in a rival s play) 2. To rob someone of the opportunity of achieving a sensational effect by forestalling him or her • • • Main Entry: ↑steal… … Useful english dictionary
Helpless (play) — Helpless is a play by Dusty Hughes which premièred at the Donmar Warehouse, London on March 2, 2000. It is set in England before, during, and after the 1997 general elections, which resulted in New Labour s landslide victory and in Tony Blair… … Wikipedia
The Barber of Seville (play) — Though poorly received at first, Beaumarchais worked some fast editing of the script, turning the play into a roaring success after three days. The play s title might be a pun on Tirso de Molina s earlier play El Burlador de Sevilla ( The… … Wikipedia
have (got) (someone's) number — to understand the way someone behaves. They ve got our number – they play harder against us than anybody else. She seems to know exactly what people our age want – she definitely has our number … New idioms dictionary
footsy, play — Rub one s foot against someone else s (usu. secretly, e.g. under a table) sensually … A concise dictionary of English slang
Happy Days (play) — Happy Days is a play in two acts, written in English, by Samuel Beckett. He began the play on 8th October 1960 [Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 475] and it was completed on 14th May 1961.… … Wikipedia
