: one that plays: such as
a
: a person who plays a game
a baseball player
a chess player
She's one of the team's best players.
b
: a person who plays a musical instrument
a piano player
c
: actor
… what drew these audiences was the emergence of the movie star from the ranks of the wholly anonymous players of a decade earlier.—
David Nasaw
David Nasaw
d
: a device that reproduces recorded material (such as video images or music) from a usually specified medium
a CD player
e
: one actively involved especially in a competitive field or process : participant
a key player in politics
f
or less commonly playa US slang
: a person and especially a man who has many lovers
Handsome and a well-paid professional, Keith, 35, chose to be a player, juggling a series of relatively brief and sometimes over-lapping intimate relationships with women.—Michel Marriott
Michel MarriottThis album has a lot of sexual references. It's almost like Bobby's … a playa.—Elliott Wilson
Elliott WilsonNote: The variant playa is more common in transcribed speech.
Examples of player in a Sentence
She's one of the team's best players.
The band's lead guitar player hurt his hand and couldn't play.
Piano players are called pianists.
Recent Examples on the Web
Arsenal, who won their second Champions League trophy at the weekend, had five players in the All Stars XI.
—Manasi Pathak, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
Derek Jeter gets his 2,000th career hit, becoming the eighth player in Yankees history to reach the milestone.
2008 — Chase Utley tied the National League lead with his 16th homer and drove in six runs as Philadelphia routed Colorado 20-5.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2025
That includes two assists in each of the first three games of the Eastern Conference final, becoming just the sixth player in NHL history to record multiple assists in each of the first three games of a conference final series and first in nearly 40 years.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 26 May 2025
Studies are also finding that microparticles from packaging and plastics, now found in air, water and food, may disrupt the gut microbiome, a key player in immune and metabolic health.
—Paul Dawson, The Conversation, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for player
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Manasi Pathak, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
Derek Jeter gets his 2,000th career hit, becoming the eighth player in Yankees history to reach the milestone.
2008 — Chase Utley tied the National League lead with his 16th homer and drove in six runs as Philadelphia routed Colorado 20-5.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2025
That includes two assists in each of the first three games of the Eastern Conference final, becoming just the sixth player in NHL history to record multiple assists in each of the first three games of a conference final series and first in nearly 40 years.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 26 May 2025
Studies are also finding that microparticles from packaging and plastics, now found in air, water and food, may disrupt the gut microbiome, a key player in immune and metabolic health.
—Paul Dawson, The Conversation, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for player
Cite this Entry
“Player.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/player. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
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