play with

phrasal verb

played with; playing with; plays with

1

: 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.

2

: 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!

3

: 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

Head coach Todd Bowles played with his father, Daryl, so the connection is already there. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2025

While the Senators played with energy, the Leafs were caught flat-footed too often. —Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025

Singing, cracking jokes, running around playing with people. —Ew Staff, EW.com, 26 Apr. 2025

God did not create man and then give him a lapdog to play with. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Apr. 2025