play with

phrasal verb

played with; playing with; plays with

: to move or handle (something) with one's hands or fingers often without thinking

Stop playing with that pen and pay attention to what I'm saying.

: to handle, change, or deal with (something) in a careless way

I played with the radio for a while but couldn't get it to work.

It's important to teach your children not to play with guns/fire/matches.

Don't play with my heart/emotions.

You have to take this seriously. You're playing with people's lives!

: to think about (something) briefly and not very seriously

I played with the idea of moving to Chicago but ended up staying in New York.

Examples of play with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web That’s the role for me in my life that music plays with grief now. —

Dina Gachman Daniel Arnold, New York Times, 25 May 2024 Despite the limited playing time together, Bennett said the transition to playing with Luostarinen and Rodrigues hasn’t been difficult. —

Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 24 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for play with

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'play with.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.