power play

noun

Definition of power play

1 : a military, diplomatic, political, or administrative maneuver in which power is brought to bear

2a : a concentrated attack in football in which the ballcarrier is preceded by a mass of blockers

b : a situation in ice hockey in which one team temporarily has more players on the ice than the other team because of a penalty

Examples of power play in a Sentence

They scored their first goal on a power play. He made a power play to seize control of the company.

Recent Examples on the Web

The team leads the league in major offensive categories: 217 total goals, including shootout goals, and success on power plays at 29.1%. — Tom Perrotta, WSJ, "NHL’s Comeback: Loads of Goals and Surprises," 13 Feb. 2019 Both Lightning goals Monday night were scored on power plays. — Alex Prewitt, SI.com, "Playoffs Are About Redemption for Longtime Starters Cory Schneider and Braden Holtby," 18 Apr. 2018 The Ducks have scored only three goals, two on power plays. — Helene Elliott, latimes.com, "Ducks get obliterated in Game 3 loss in San Jose," 17 Apr. 2018 Jason Spezza responded to being benched by scoring two tiebreaking goals on power plays, helping the Dallas Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Tuesday night. — Larry Lage, star-telegram, "Spezza returns from benching with first two-goal game since 2016," 16 Jan. 2018 Minnesota came into the game boasting the league’s second-best penalty kill, and limited Vegas to just two shots on goal during its power play, while blocking five other shots. — W.g. Ramirez, The Seattle Times, "Coyle’s third-period goal sends Wild past Golden Knights 4-2," 21 Jan. 2019 President Trump has cited the missile program and its power plays in the Middle East for his administration’s decision, and U.S. officials have urged European governments to harden their stance. — Laurence Norman, WSJ, "Europeans Eye Sanctions on Iran Over Covert Activities," 1 Nov. 2018 And, noting the laughter, here’s what the U.S. distributed: But for a man who is all about image control, this is his power play. — Andrew Katz, Time, "A Single Photo Captured President Trump's Approach to the G7 Summit," 10 June 2018 Both have amped up their physical play in recent weeks, meaning this series could see bruises pile up on top of bruises. 28.8: The Capitals’ power play takes the advantage this series at 28.8%. — Kristen Nelson, SI.com, "Stanley Cup Final Series Breakdown: Washington Capitals vs. Vegas Golden Knights," 27 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'power play.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.