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

She is seen playing with her brother before Aegon II takes him away in the second season premiere of House of the Dragon. — Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 22 June 2026

Other first-year eligible candidates include forwards Eric Staal, who is 80th all-time with 1,063 points, and Phil Kessel, the NHL’s all-time leader in consecutive regular season games played with 1,064. — Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 21 June 2026

Scheffler, who was playing with Clark on Sunday, finished even par and tied for fourth in his attempt to complete the career grand slam. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 21 June 2026

Now Florida is leading the nation by ensuring new high school student-athletes are not playing with an undetected heart condition like Sean’s. — Martha Lopez-Anderson, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 June 2026