play to

phrasal 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

Nominated for five Tony Awards and directed by David Cromer, Good Night, and Good Luck has become the highest-grossing play in Broadway history, and the first play to surpass a gross of $4 million in a single week. —Sharareh Drury, People.com, 8 June 2025

Not only is sitting on the potty all by yourself a little bit scary, but nobody likes putting play to a stop to use the potty, either. —Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 6 June 2025

Both of those played to the Packers’ strengths against New York, whom Indiana outscored by 79 off turnovers and by 58 in fast-break opportunities. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 4 June 2025

All of this can account for the growing syllabus of novels, non-fiction, and plays to be found in Anderson’s own canon. —Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 2 June 2025

Rhymes for play to

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