byplay

noun

by·​play ˈbī-ˌplā 

: 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

Their relationship evolves over time, defined by amusing byplay at the start. — Don Aucoin, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Nov. 2022

All this byplay has predictably undermined confidence that the deal will ever happen. — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2022

Few films have so poignantly portrayed the mother-daughter byplay. — Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Dec. 2020

Their amusing byplay is comforting, which translates to some degree as predictable, but familiarity is part of the appeal. — Bill Keveney, USA TODAY, 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. — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Mar. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1812, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for byplay

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• assez
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway