play with

phrasal 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

The final picture then concluded with the birthday girl wearing a birthday cone hat and playing with a balloon on the floor by her sister. —Gabrielle Rockson, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025

Elie Saab showed silk trousers and skirts printed to look like washed denim and Stella McCartney played with various washes and seams to create striped constructions. —Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 17 Oct. 2025

On a play with plenty of contact on both sides, Ramsey was flagged for defensive pass interference, as Chase reeled in the touchdown pass. —Mike Defabo, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025

The video shows the pup lounging around in various positions in a home setting, from asleep on the floor and over a blanket to playing with a dog toy and lying on the floor with her legs in the air as a hand rubs her belly. —Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025