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

But the side from KC was held scoreless in a match for the first time all year late Wednesday evening, playing to a 0-0 draw against the Seattle Reign at Lumen Field in Seattle. —Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 9 May 2024

Match 3 in a row and keep playing to continue through the levels of this online puzzle game. —Fox News, 8 May 2024

Defying convention Braden Douglas, founder and CEO of marketing agency Crew Marketing Partners, told Fortune that Target’s play to expand its private brands beyond its own stores isn’t a popular gambit. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 6 May 2024

Forty years into her legendary career, Madonna played to her largest audience ever with a free concert at Copacabana beach Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro that drew 1.6 million people. —Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 5 May 2024

And it’s almost played to my advantage to some degree. —Margaret Farrell, SPIN, 3 May 2024

The show will feature pairs of celebrities playing to win up to $1 million for charities of their choosing. —Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 May 2024

The former records whichever audio loops are playing to a master track, while the latter records actions such as button presses, knob turns, and loop activations to the track sequencer. —Pete Cottell, WIRED, 2 May 2024

On the strength of a pair of EPs — including Songs in the Gravel that dropped in March — Gossett has consistently played to capacity crowds in the U.S. and abroad. —Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 2 May 2024