power play

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 Entering Saturday, the Rangers ranked 20th in the league on both the power play (17.8 percent) and penalty kill (79.4). — BostonGlobe.com, "Most read on BostonGlobe.com," 27 Oct. 2019 Neal delivered the decisive blow with 6:32 remaining, left alone near the net on an Oilers power play and able to jam the puck past Quick. — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, "Todd McLellan’s debut spoiled as Kings fall to Oilers in season opener," 5 Oct. 2019 The Predators were looking to open up cap space to add scoring help for the power play and the second line. — Kevin Allen, USA TODAY, "NHL trade roundup: PK Subban, JT Miller and Patrick Marleau dealt for salary cap reasons," 22 June 2019 Svechnikov became the youngest player to score two-plus goals in a playoff game since Dainius Zubrus in 1997, but the Hurricanes failed to score on two late power plays and Eller sealed it with an empty-net goal with 36.6 seconds left. — Stephen Whyno, The Seattle Times, "Capitals survive surge from Hurricanes to win Game 1," 12 Apr. 2019 Smith's goal came on a power play and Moy's was unassisted. — Plain Dealer Sports, cleveland.com, "Milwaukee Admirals roll past Cleveland Monsters, 6-3," 5 Apr. 2018 The Panthers went 0-for-6 on the power play and also allowed a shorthanded goal in an uncharacteristically poor performance on special teams. — Walter Villa, miamiherald, "Cats stumble but on a roll, need to own next road trip | Miami Herald," 17 Mar. 2018 Along with Couture and Hertl, Timo Meier, Evander Kane and Kevin Labanc help — who combined for 77 goals last season, including 13 on the power play — give the Sharks some potent options in their top nine forward group. — Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, "Cup or bust (again)? Names change, but high expectations remain for Sharks," 12 Sep. 2019 Winger Brad Marchand cranked the opening salvo in the first period, dropping to one knee during a 5-on-3 power play. — Alex Prewitt, SI.com, "Bruins’ Core Steps Up to Counterpunch Blues, Take Stanley Cup Final the Distance," 10 June 2019

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.

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Dictionary Entries near power play

power-political

power politician

Statistics for power play

Last Updated

11 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for power play

The first known use of power play was in 1947

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WORD OF THE DAY

incongruous

not being in agreement or harmony

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