play to

phrasal verb

played to; playing to; plays to

1

: to behave or perform in a particular way for (someone or something) in order to get approval or attention

He didn't mean what he was saying. He was just playing to the crowd.

He loves publicity and plays to the cameras every chance he gets.

2

: to make use of (something)

a film that plays to stereotypes of housewives

In his latest album, he once again plays to his strengths as a classical musician.

Examples of play to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And tight end Travis Kelce figured even playing in a Walmart parking lot would make for an ample cause — and spoke eloquently to the integrity of playing to the end. —Kansas City Star, 21 Dec. 2025

More than 140,000 other Fantasy 5 tickets sold in California also won prizes ranging from free plays to nearly $450, the lottery said. —Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 21 Dec. 2025

The teams played to a scoreless draw in the first half with both defenses taking center stage. —Charles Baggarly & Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Dec. 2025

Both defensemen had all day to make their moves — McAvoy to settle the puck and find his partner, Zadorov to receive the pass and wait for the next stage of the play to unfold. —Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025

Rhymes for play to

• accrue
• ado
• ainu
• aircrew
• airscrew
• anew
• askew
• baboo
• babu
• bamboo
• beaucoup
• bijou