power play

noun

|Updated on: 5 Aug 2018

Examples: power play in a Sentence

Definition of power play

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

2 a : 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

See power play defined for English-language learners

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 of power play from the Web

When the Bruins earned a third-period power play, Reimer made two big stops on Torey Krug slap shots.

— matthew defranks, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Goalie James Reimer backstops Panthers to victory over Bruins," 16 Mar. 2018
Henri Jokiharju, 1 goal, finished on the power play.

— dylan bumbarger, OregonLive.com, "Winterhawks 2, Silvertips 0," 12 Mar. 2018
The contest has become a pure power play, decoupled from the reality of irregular migration.

— The Economist, "How policy debates in Europe become untethered from reality," 12 July 2018
Both played on the power play (Petrovic didn’t) and Johns was a main penalty killer for the Stars.

— matthew defranks, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Panthers RFA MacKenzie Weegar files for arbitration, Alexander Petrovic does not," 5 July 2018
The meaty part of perhaps the most ambitious sports power play in Kansas City history is here.

— sam mellinger, kansascity, "The importance of Kansas City hearing 'yes' about the World Cup," 13 June 2018
The 33-year-old former forward, who played right wing for the Chicago Blackhawks during their Stanley Cup run in 2010, can join a rush on offense in even-strength situations and plays on the power play.

— larry lage, The Seattle Times, "Jets D Dustin Byfuglien poses big problem for Golden Knights," 13 May 2018
Janne Kuokkanen led Charlotte with two goals, both on power plays.

— charlotteobserver, "With one huge game, the Charlotte Checkers seize control of their playoff destiny | Charlotte Observer," 5 May 2018
Lying adjacent to Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Israel, there’s long experience in Cyprus of being on the front line of geopolitical power plays.

— alan crawford, Bloomberg.com, "Everything Is for Sale in Cyprus, and China’s Buying," 24 Apr. 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.

First Known Use of power play

1947

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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POWER PLAY Defined for English Language Learners

power play

noun

Definition of power play for English Language Learners

ice hockey : a situation in which one team has more players on the ice than the other team for a period of time because of a penalty
: an attempt by a person, group, or organization to use power in a forceful and direct way to get or do something