Dictionary De - En
De - Es
De - Pt| English Dictionary: playing | by the DICT Development Group |
| 3 results for playing | |
| From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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| From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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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. As Cannace was playing in her walk. --Chaucer. The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy reason, would he skip and play! --Pope. And some, the darlings of their Lord, Play smiling with the flame and sword. --Keble. 2. To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless. [bd]Nay,[b8] quod this monk, [bd]I have no lust to pleye.[b8] --Chaucer. Men are apt to play with their healths. --Sir W. Temple. 3. To contend, or take part, in a game; as, to play ball; hence, to gamble; as, he played for heavy stakes. 4. To perform on an instrument of music; as, to play on a flute. One that . . . can play well on an instrument. --Ezek. xxxiii. 32. Play, my friend, and charm the charmer. --Granville. 5. To act; to behave; to practice deception. His mother played false with a smith. --Shak. 6. To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate; to act; as, the fountain plays. The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play. --Cheyne. 7. To move gayly; to wanton; to disport. Even as the waving sedges play with wind. --Shak. The setting sun Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets. --Addison. All fame is foreign but of true desert, Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart. --Pope. 8. To act on the stage; to personate a character. A lord will hear your play to-night. --Shak. Courts are theaters where some men play. --Donne. {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. Art thou alive? Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight. --Shak. (b) To use in a droll manner; to give a droll expression or application to; as, to play upon words. | |
| From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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Playing \Play"ing\, a. & vb. n. of {Play}. {Playing cards}. See under {Card}. | |
