play to

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

Long hitters may be tempted to attack the green in two, but the uphill second shot played to a partially obscured putting surface—demands both precision and exceptional ball-striking. — Jeff Goudy, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026

This was not the kind of game that played to their strengths, a little too free-wheeling. — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 26 July 2026

The first two play to AI’s natural advantages in handling large, unstructured datasets. — Roderick Wong, Fortune, 25 July 2026

Some Toronto Blue Jays are playing to stay in the big leagues; others face impending free agency or future arbitration cases. — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 25 July 2026

Rhymes for play to

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