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

The key to their passing is, essentially, that the school kids always get dragged towards the ball over on one side, and the internationals can constantly switch the play to the opposite flank, where one of the trio is unmarked. — Michael Cox, New York Times, 29 June 2026

Chelsea supporters found Maresca’s style of play to be one-dimensional at times. — Graham Ruthven, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026

The teams have also played to two draws while Japan got its first win in the series in a friendly in Tokyo in October. — Kristie Rieken, Chicago Tribune, 29 June 2026

Indeed, their argument is that the split will give each company a stronger hand to to play to cut deals or expand, splitting the debt load accordingly. — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 29 June 2026

Rhymes for play to

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