play for time

phrase

: to try to make something happen later instead of sooner : to try to delay something

They're just playing for time, hoping that the situation will resolve itself.

Examples of play for time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Vladimir Putin is evidently continuing to play for time—that is also very clear to see. — Isabel Van Brugen, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 May 2025

This really feels more like a play for time than an effort to insulate this government action conclusively from judicial review. — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2025

Rather than pressing for the second and decisive goal, the Black and Yellows tried to play for time. — Manuel Veth, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024

The third is building a communication architecture with Chinese counterparts that ensures clear, consistent, and credible exchanges but does not let Beijing use official dialogue to play for time and advantage. — Evan Medeiros, Foreign Affairs, 17 Mar. 2021

There are a number of reasons to doubt that Russia will seek to halt the violence soon, not least because Moscow’s diplomacy has so far served mainly to play for time on behalf of the Assad government. — Gregory Feifer, Foreign Affairs, 18 Feb. 2016

Rhymes for play for time

• aforetime
• allozyme
• anytime
• christmastime
• cybercrime
• dinnertime
• guggenheim
• isozyme
• lysozyme
• maritime
• mesenchyme
• overtime