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Another word for play

a-z
Verb

  1. To occupy oneself with amusement or diversion

      1. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
      2. Such activities considered as a group:
      3. A usually challenging activity undertaken for amusement:
      1. To impart fresh life to; refresh mentally or physically.
      2. To take recreation.
      1. To amuse oneself in a light, frolicsome manner.
      2. To amuse (oneself) in a light, frolicsome manner.
      3. To display.
    See also:

    work

  2. To move one's fingers or hands in a nervous or aimless fashion

      1. To turn over or around idly or lightly; fiddle with:
      2. To trifle with something.
      3. To be busy about trifles.
      1. Something of little importance or value.
      2. A small amount; a jot.
      3. A dessert typically consisting of plain or sponge cake soaked in sherry, rum, or brandy and topped with layers of jam or jelly, custard, and whipped cream.
      1. An object for a child to play with.
      2. Something that provides amusement:
      3. A small ornament; a bauble.
      1. A traveling mender of metal household utensils.
      2. A member of any of various traditionally itinerant groups of people living especially in Scotland and Ireland; a traveler.
      3. One who enjoys experimenting with and repairing machine parts.
      1. A short golf club used for putting.
      2. A golfer who is putting.
      1. Any of various tailed primates of the suborder Anthropoidea, including the macaques, baboons, capuchins, and marmosets, and excluding the apes.
      2. A nonhuman ape. Not in scientific use.
      3. One who behaves in a way suggestive of a monkey, as a mischievous child or a mimic.
      1. One who is deficient in judgment, sense, or understanding.
      2. One who acts unwisely on a given occasion:
      3. One who has been tricked or made to appear ridiculous; a dupe:
      1. To behave or move nervously or restlessly.
      2. To play or fuss; fiddle:
      3. To cause to behave or move nervously or restlessly.
      1. A violin, especially one used to play folk or country music.
      2. A guardrail used on a table during rough weather to prevent things from slipping off.
      3. Nonsensical, trifling matters:
    See also:

    touch

  3. To make a bet

      1. An agreement under which each bettor pledges a certain amount to the other depending on the outcome of an unsettled matter.
      2. A matter bet on; a gamble.
      3. Something that is staked on an uncertain outcome; a bet:
      1. To cause to lie down:
      2. To place in or bring to a particular position:
      3. To bury.
      1. An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime:
      2. A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules:
      3. A single instance of such an activity:
      1. To bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest.
      2. To play a game of chance for stakes.
      3. To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.
      1. An agreement usually between two parties that the one who has made an incorrect prediction about an uncertain outcome will forfeit something stipulated to the other; a wager:
      2. An amount or object risked in a wager; a stake:
      3. One on which a stake is or can be placed:
    Idioms:
    See also:

    gambling

  4. To treat lightly or flippantly

      1. Something of little importance or value.
      2. A small amount; a jot.
      3. A dessert typically consisting of plain or sponge cake soaked in sherry, rum, or brandy and topped with layers of jam or jelly, custard, and whipped cream.
      1. An object for a child to play with.
      2. Something that provides amusement:
      3. A small ornament; a bauble.
      1. To act as if one is sexually attracted to another person, usually in a playful manner.
      2. To deal playfully, triflingly, or superficially with:
      3. To move abruptly or jerkily:
      1. To play amorously; flirt:
      2. To consider or occupy oneself with something in a careless or unserious fashion; toy.
      3. To dawdle, delay, or linger:
    See also:

    work

  5. To play the part of

      1. To have as a meaning, suggestion, or association; stand for or symbolize:
      2. To indicate or communicate by signs or symbols:
      3. To depict in art; portray:
      1. To depict or represent pictorially; make a picture of:
      2. To describe or represent in words:
      3. To describe or depict in a certain way:
      1. To play a role in a dramatic performance.
      2. To play a pretended role; make believe.
      3. To behave in an overdramatic or artificial manner.
      1. To begin and carry through to completion; do:
      2. To take action in accordance with the requirements of; fulfill:
      3. To enact (a feat or role) before an audience.
      1. To assume the character or appearance of, especially fraudulently:
      2. To imitate the appearance, voice, or manner of; mimic:
      1. To make into law:
      2. To act (something) out, as on a stage:
      1. To perform or execute; carry out:
      2. To fulfill the requirements of:
      3. To perform the tasks or behaviors typically associated with (something), especially as part of one's character or normal duties:
      1. The process of doing or performing something:
      2. Something done or performed; a deed:
      3. Something done that has legal significance:
    See also:

    substitute

    performing-arts

    action

  6. To make music

      1. To begin and carry through to completion; do:
      2. To take action in accordance with the requirements of; fulfill:
      3. To enact (a feat or role) before an audience.
    See also:

    performing-arts

  7. To perform according to one's artistic conception

      1. To submit or present, as for consideration, approval, or payment:
      2. To give or make available; provide:
      3. To give in return or by obligation:
      1. To explain the meaning of:
      2. To understand the significance of; construe:
      3. To present or conceptualize the meaning of by means of art or criticism:
      1. To put into effect; carry out:
      2. To perform; do:
      3. To create (a work of art, for example) in accordance with a prescribed design.
    See also:

    performing-arts

  8. To be performed

      1. To cause or allow to be seen; display:
      2. To display for sale, in exhibition, or in competition:
      3. To permit access to (a house, for example) when offering for sale or rent.
      1. To move swiftly on foot so that both or all feet are not on the ground during each stride.
      2. To retreat rapidly; flee:
      3. To depart; leave:
    See also:

    performing-arts

  9. To control to one's own advantage by artful or indirect means

      1. To move, arrange, operate, or control by the hands or another body part or by mechanical means, especially in a skillful manner:
      2. To influence or manage shrewdly or deviously:
      3. To tamper with or falsify for personal gain:
      1. A movement or combination of movements involving skill and dexterity:
      2. A controlled change in movement or direction of a moving vehicle or vessel, as in the flight path of an aircraft.
      3. A strategic or tactical military or naval movement.
      1. An act or deed, especially a brilliant or heroic one.
      2. A program or system designed to take advantage of a particular error or security vulnerability in computers or networks.
      3. To employ to the greatest possible advantage:
    See also:

    straight

    control

  10. To cause to undergo or bear (something unwelcome or damaging, for example)

      1. To bring about (damage or destruction, for example):
      2. To inflict (vengeance or punishment) upon a person.
      3. To give vent to or act upon (one's feelings):
      1. To go to see or spend time with (someone); call on socially:
      2. To go to see in order to aid or console:
      3. To stay with (someone) as a guest.
      1. To cause (something injurious or harmful), as to a person, group, or area:
      2. To force to undergo or experience (something unwanted):
      3. To deal or deliver (a blow, for example).
      1. To establish or apply as compulsory; levy:
      2. To bring about by authority or force; force to prevail:
      3. To obtrude or force (oneself, for example) on another or others.
    See also:

    willing

    over

    give

Noun

  1. Activity engaged in for relaxation and amusement

      1. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
      2. Such activities considered as a group:
      3. A usually challenging activity undertaken for amusement:
      1. Refreshment of one's mind or body after work through activity that amuses or stimulates; play.
      2. An activity that provides such refreshment.
      1. Enjoyment; amusement:
      2. A source of enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure:
      3. To speak or act facetiously; joke or fool.
      1. The act or an instance of diverting or turning aside; deviation.
      2. Something that distracts the mind and relaxes or entertains.
      3. A maneuver that draws the attention of an opponent away from a planned point of action, especially as part of military strategy.
      1. To amuse oneself in a light, frolicsome manner.
      2. To amuse (oneself) in a light, frolicsome manner.
      3. To display.
    See also:

    work

  2. Actions taken as a joke

      1. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
      2. Such activities considered as a group:
      3. A usually challenging activity undertaken for amusement:
      1. An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime:
      2. A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules:
      3. A single instance of such an activity:
      1. Enjoyment; amusement:
      2. A source of enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure:
      3. To speak or act facetiously; joke or fool.
    See also:

    work

  3. The act of putting into play

      1. (American) Alternative spelling of utilisation.
      1. To put into service or employ for a purpose:
      2. To avail oneself of; practice:
      3. To conduct oneself toward; treat or handle:
      1. The act, manner, or amount of using; use:
      2. The act or manner of treating; treatment:
      3. Habitual or accepted practice:
      1. The act or process of operating or functioning.
      2. The state of being operative or functional:
      3. A process or series of acts involved in a particular form of work:
      1. The carrying out or physical realization of something. The phrase "there are various implementations of the protocol" means that there are several software products that execute that protocol. A computer system implementation would be the installation of new hardware and system software. An information system implementation would be the installation of new databases and application programs, and the adoption of new manual procedures.
      1. The act or an instance of exerting, especially a strenuous effort.
      1. Activity that requires physical or mental exertion, especially when performed to develop or maintain fitness:
      2. A specific activity performed to develop or maintain fitness or a skill:
      3. The active use or application of something:
      1. The act of employing.
      2. The state of being employed.
      3. The work in which one is engaged; occupation.
      1. The act of applying.
      2. Something applied, such as a cosmetic or curative agent.
      3. The act of putting something to a special use or purpose:
    See also:

    used

  4. Suitable opportunity to accept or allow something

      1. The range of one's perceptions, thoughts, or actions:
      2. The opportunity or possibility to function or be active:
      3. The extent of a given activity or subject that is involved, treated, or relevant:
      1. A space that is or may be occupied:
      2. An area separated by walls or partitions from other similar parts of the structure or building in which it is located:
      3. The people present in such an area:
      1. An edge and the area immediately adjacent to it; a border.
      2. The blank space bordering the written or printed area on a page.
      3. A limit in a condition or process, beyond or below which something is no longer possible or acceptable:
      1. The drift of a ship or aircraft to leeward of the course being steered.
      2. A margin of freedom or variation, as of activity, time, or expenditure; latitude.
      1. The angular distance north or south of the earth's equator, measured in degrees along a meridian, as on a map or globe.
      2. A region of the earth considered in relation to its distance from the equator:
      3. The angular distance of a celestial body north or south of the ecliptic.
      1. Adequate room to move or work in.
      2. Ample scope:
    See also:

    restraint

    place

  5. Ease of or space for movement

      1. The condition of not being in prison or captivity:
      2. The condition of being free of restraints, especially the ability to act without control or interference by another or by circumstance:
      3. The condition of not being controlled by another nation or political power; political independence.
      1. Adequate room to move or work in.
      2. Ample scope:
    See also:

    tighten

Idioms:

    play along

  1. To agree to cooperate or participate

    2. play around

  2. To be sexually unfaithful to another

    3. play down

  3. To make less emphatic or obvious

    4. play off

  4. To place in opposition or be in opposition to

    5. play out

  5. To cause (a line) to become longer and less taut

    6. play out

  6. To use all of

    7. play out

  7. To make or become no longer active or productive

    8. play up

  8. To accord emphasis to

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Another word for play

Noun

  1. Amusement

      1. The state or feeling of being pleased or gratified.
      2. A source of enjoyment or delight:
      3. Amusement, diversion, or worldly enjoyment:
      1. The act or an instance of diverting or turning aside; deviation.
      2. Something that distracts the mind and relaxes or entertains.
      3. A maneuver that draws the attention of an opponent away from a planned point of action, especially as part of military strategy.
      1. The act or state of enjoying.
      2. Use or possession of something beneficial or pleasurable.
      3. Something that gives pleasure:
    See also:

    entertainment

  2. Recreation

      1. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
      2. Such activities considered as a group:
      3. A usually challenging activity undertaken for amusement:
      1. An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime:
      2. A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules:
      3. A single instance of such an activity:
      1. The act of relaxing or the state of being relaxed.
      2. Refreshment of body or mind; recreation:
      3. A loosening or slackening.
    See also:

    entertainment

  3. Fun

    See also:

    fun

  4. A drama

      1. Of, relating to, or suitable for dramatic performance or the theater.
      2. Marked by exaggerated self-display and unnatural behavior; affectedly dramatic.
      3. A stage performance, especially by amateurs.
      1. Of, relating to, or capable of producing music:
      2. Characteristic of or resembling music; melodious:
      3. Set to or accompanied by music:
      1. A thing considered as a unit or an element of a larger thing, quantity, or class; a portion:
      2. A portion or part that has been separated from a whole:
      3. An object that is one member of a group or class:
    See also:

    show

    performance

    drama

  5. Sport

      1. A test to ascertain the qualifications of applicants, as for an athletic team or theatrical role.
      2. An experimental performance of a play before its official opening.
      1. One that is exactly like another or a counterpart to another:
      2. One that is like another in one or more specified qualities:
      3. One that is able to compete equally with another:
      1. The act or an instance of exhibiting.
      2. Something exhibited; an exhibit.
      3. A large-scale public showing, as of art objects or industrial or agricultural products.
    See also:

    sport

  6. Action

    See also:

    action

Verb

  1. To amuse oneself

    Antonyms:

  2. To gambol

    Antonyms:

  3. To produce music

      1. To touch (the body) lightly so as to cause laughter or twitching movements.
      2. To tease or excite pleasurably; titillate:
      3. To fill with mirth or pleasure; delight.
      1. A blow, as with a blunt object.
      2. A muffled sound, as that produced by beating with a blunt object; a thud.
      3. To beat so as to produce a thump or thumps:
      1. A unit of weight equal to 16 ounces (453.592 grams).
      2. A unit of apothecary weight equal to 12 ounces (373.242 grams).
      3. A unit of weight differing in various countries and times.
      1. To emit a sharp, vibrating sound, as the string of a musical instrument does when it is plucked.
      2. To resound with a sharp, vibrating sound.
      3. To speak in a strongly nasal tone of voice.
      1. To remove (an outer layer, for example) from a surface by forceful strokes of an edged or rough instrument:
      2. To abrade or smooth by rubbing with a sharp or rough instrument.
      3. To rub (a surface) with considerable pressure, as with an edged instrument or a hard object.
      1. Any of various tools, either hand-operated or power-driven, having a thin metal blade or disk with a sharp, usually toothed edge, used for cutting wood, metal, or other hard materials.
      2. To cut or divide with a saw.
      3. To produce or shape with a saw:
      1. To hit sharply, as with a hand, fist, weapon, or implement:
      2. To inflict (a blow).
      3. To penetrate or pierce:
      1. Vibrations transmitted through an elastic solid or a liquid or gas, with frequencies in the approximate range of 20 to 20,000 hertz, capable of being detected by human organs of hearing.
      2. Transmitted vibrations of any frequency.
      3. The sensation stimulated in the organs of hearing by such vibrations in the air or other medium.
      1. A violin, especially one used to play folk or country music.
      2. A guardrail used on a table during rough weather to prevent things from slipping off.
      3. Nonsensical, trifling matters:
      1. A machine or device for raising, compressing, or transferring fluids.
      2. A molecular mechanism for the active transport of ions or molecules across a cell membrane.
      3. Electromagnetic radiation used to raise atoms or molecules to a higher energy level.
      1. The body opening through which an animal takes in food.
      2. The cavity lying at the upper end of the digestive tract, bounded on the outside by the lips and inside by the oropharynx and containing in humans and certain other vertebrates the tongue, gums, and teeth.
      3. This cavity regarded as the source of sounds and speech.
      1. To sound a horn or whistle in short blasts.
      2. To make the sound of a horn or whistle blown in short blasts or a sound resembling it.
      3. To snort cocaine.
      1. A hollow cylinder or tube used to conduct a liquid, gas, or finely divided solid.
      2. A section or piece of such a tube.
      3. A device for smoking, consisting of a tube of wood, clay, or other material with a small bowl at one end.
      1. To make light metallic sounds, as those of a small bell.
      2. To urinate.
      3. To cause to tinkle.
      1. To throw or place heavily or abruptly:
      2. To strum or pluck (a stringed instrument).
      3. To drop or fall abruptly or heavily; plump:
      1. The front section of a ship or boat.
      2. Either of the sides of this front section:
      3. The oar or the person wielding the oar closest to the bow in a racing shell.
      1. A foot-operated lever used for actuating or controlling a mechanism, as in a loom, sewing machine, piano, or organ.
      2. A similar foot-operated part attached to a crank and used for powering various devices, such as a bicycle.
      3. A pedal point.
      1. any of the five jointed parts projecting from the palm of the hand; esp., any of these other than the thumb
      2. the part of a glove that covers one of these parts
      3. anything resembling a finger in shape or use; specif., a short strip of chicken, fish, etc., breaded and deep-fried
      1. Physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something:
      2. Such effort or activity by which one makes a living; employment:
      3. A trade, profession, or other means of livelihood:
      1. To perform a function; work:
      2. To perform surgery.
      3. To exert an influence:
      1. To put into effect; carry out:
      2. To perform; do:
      3. To create (a work of art, for example) in accordance with a prescribed design.
      1. To begin and carry through to completion; do:
      2. To take action in accordance with the requirements of; fulfill:
      3. To enact (a feat or role) before an audience.

  4. To display light, erratic movement

      1. To move waveringly; flutter:
      2. To burn or shine unsteadily or fitfully:
      3. To be displayed with fluctuating brightness: