verb To engage in an activity purely for fun or recreation.
- The kids played in the garden until it got dark.
- Puppies play by chasing and wrestling with each other.
- On rainy afternoons my brother and I would play with cardboard boxes for hours.
verb To take part in a sport or game.
- She plays tennis every Saturday morning.
- Do you want to play football with us after school?
- Our team played badly in the first half but won in the end.
verb To perform music, or operate a device so that it produces sound or video.
- He plays the guitar in a local band.
- Press this button to play the video.
- The radio was playing soft jazz while we cooked dinner.
verb To act the part of a character in a film, play, or performance.
- She played the lead role in the school production.
- He played the villain so well that the audience booed him.
- I would love to play the part of a detective one day.
noun A dramatic work written for actors to perform on stage.
- The theater is staging a new play next month.
- We went to see a play about a family living by the sea.
- She wrote her first play when she was still at university.
noun Activity engaged in for enjoyment rather than a serious purpose.
- Children learn a great deal through play.
- The puppies' rough play looked fierce but was completely harmless.
- A little time for play helps pupils concentrate in lessons afterward.
