play host to

idiomatic phrase

: to serve as a host for (someone or something)

Each year, the city plays host to the film festival for one week.

As travel to the Third World has expanded, so, too, has concern about the damage wrought by mass tourism on the people and places that play host to wandering North Americans and Europeans.

—Ira Silver

St. John's meets No. 3-ranked Duke and the Big East rival Miami on the road, and will play host to No. 4 Syracuse, No. 13 Connecticut and surging Seton Hall at the Garden.

—Jon Drape

The grasslands play host to [=provide a home for] long-billed curlews and sage grouse, and eagles, osprey and coyotes scavenge the area.

—Kay Clark

Examples of play host to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Beyond big cats, the murky waters of the Sundarbans play host to a wealth of fish and crustacean species—and this high concentration of biomass serves as the perfect buffet for all sorts of native birds. —Jared Ranahan, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025

Suddenly, SoFi Stadium was playing host to an OMD concert, more or less, and the R&B romanticism of the previous stretch has been replaced by New Romanticism. —Chris Willman, Variety, 27 June 2025

Temporary stands are erected on the two main courts; the Andy Murray Arena and Court 1, while the middle of the venue plays host to a maze of makeshift concourse areas and corridors that link all the courts together. —Tim Spiers, New York Times, 20 June 2025

The Tigers also play host to defending national champion Florida, Final Four participant Auburn and four other opponents (Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Vanderbilt) that received tourney bids. —The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 18 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for play host to

• amadou
• avenue
• ballyhoo
• baraboo
• barbecue
• barbeque
• bugaboo
• cabildo
• caribou
• cockatoo
• detinue
• devalue