play with

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

Unable to play with any fluency, Argentina toiled and Messi was peripheral. — Stuart James, New York Times, 12 July 2026

Hargrave then spent two seasons in San Francisco, helped the 49ers reach the 2023 Super Bowl, and played with Minnesota in 2025. — Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026

Burton converted a three-point play with 31 seconds left in the third quarter to become the first Golden State player to reach double-digit points. — ABC News, 10 July 2026

Willis posted two videos on his Facebook account that shows his dog, Ophelia, playing with and walking another dog. — Andre Butso, AJC.com, 10 July 2026