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

Two of those touchdowns came on 62-yard passing plays to Alexander, who posted 159 yards on just five catches. — Dane Brugler, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Riley, who finished with 232 all-purpose yards Friday, provided the jolts early as the Blackhawks used big plays to counter the grind-it-out attack used by Streamwood. — Rick Armstrong, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026

The two teams played to the 16-16 tie (official) in Topeka before the rest of play was ended late in the fourth quarter due to excessive heat on Saturday. — Kansas City Star, 6 Sep. 2026

Still, an air of artificiality and sometimes theatricality does pervade his talky, often didactic scenes, which actually plays to the benefit of the performances — especially from Huston. — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 4 Sep. 2026

Rhymes for play to

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