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by·play | \ ˈbī-ˌplā 
\
\Definition of byplay
: action engaged in on the side while the main action proceeds (as during a dramatic production)
Examples of byplay in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web But the real show here is the peerlessly entertaining Poitier-Steiger byplay.
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Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, "Home theater: Spend quality time with the elegant Sidney Poitier," 15 Apr. 2020 The reverberations will roll out for years to come, affecting the state of presidential power, the national political climate and the byplay between the two parties in Washington.
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Gerald F. Seib, WSJ, "Trump’s Impeachment Is Virtually Over. What Did It Change?," 1 Feb. 2020 Maybarduk saw the byplay between Trump and Pfizer as a reflection of the ineffectiveness of the blueprint.
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Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, "Pfizer doesn't deserve any credit for 'rolling back' its price increases at Trump's demand. Here's why," 11 July 2018 Their amusing byplay is comforting, which translates to some degree as predictable, but familiarity is part of the appeal.
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Bill Keveney, USA TODAY, "Why familiar friends make TV's remake obsession less annoying," 24 Apr. 2018 Because the formal byplay of the schema is of more interest to the creators than creating distinctive characters, the lovers never quite take on lives of their own, and Harder’s libretto has a generic quality.
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Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, "CD Review: Nathaniel Stookey, ‘Zipperz’," 7 Mar. 2018 The byplay between the two during the game in their limited head-to-head action Friday night was mostly benign.
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Ira Winderman, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Twitter beef! Hassan Whiteside, Joel Embiid go at it after exhibition," 14 Oct. 2017 But within the class, the noisy action — all shade and byplay — is too often superficial.
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Jesse Green, New York Times, "Review: In ‘Charm,’ Challenges Emily Post Never Dreamed Of," 18 Sep. 2017 There are hours of colorful byplay by intelligent analysts.
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David Bauder, The Seattle Times, "Politics fuels cable news surge, not network evening news," 5 June 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'byplay.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for byplay
The first known use of byplay was in 1812
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