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

So Stricklin played with the wall, paying little attention to his coach. —Noah White, Miami Herald, 3 Oct. 2025

The video shows Combs playing with his children, mourning Kim Porter and giving motivational speeches at fundraisers in New York. —Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2025

The team also has money to play with in free agency, but the top priority may be keeping Alex Bregman around. —Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025

This, of course, is not the first time Megan Thee Stallion—a bona fide hair chameleon—has played with purple hair. —Marci Robin, Allure, 3 Oct. 2025