toy with
phrasal verb
toyed with; toying with; toys with
1
: to think about (something) briefly and not very seriously
I toyed with the idea of moving to France but ended up staying here.
2
: to move or touch (something) with one's fingers often without thinking
She toyed with her hair while she talked on the phone.
3
: to deal with or control (someone or something) in a clever and usually unfair or selfish way
Do you really love me, or are you just toying with me?
Don't toy with my emotions.
Examples of toy with in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When Shawn Bergin can find the time, his favorite thing to do in his Tennyson Street bakery is to toy with savory creations, whether for staff meals or weekly specialties.
—
Lily O'Neill, The Denver Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Earth's changing spin is threatening to toy with our sense of time, clocks and computerized society in an unprecedented way — but only for a second.
—CBS News, 27 Mar. 2024
Since the group got even stronger with transfer Lauren Betts, the top overall recruit in 2022, Brown has toyed with calling them the Sensational Six.
—Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2024
Yet in recent years, social media has begun toying with this most unholy combination to fascinating—and frightening—results.
—Jonathan Dale / The Takeout, Quartz, 17 Mar. 2024
OpenAI is also not the first entity to toy with memory in generative AI.
—Lauren Goode, WIRED, 13 Feb. 2024
At the same time, Weezer was happily toying with the kind of rock iconography Cuomo had grown up admiring in the likes of his beloved KISS.
—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The album was written and laid out to leave room for Pirog and Lewis to toy with melodies, trade solos and play together.
—Chris Kelly, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024
After dropping out of college to pursue music full-time during the pandemic, the band toyed with an upbeat modern indie/pop sound in the vein of early COIN or The 1975.
—Tess Growney, SPIN, 15 Feb. 2024
Lily O'Neill, The Denver Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Earth's changing spin is threatening to toy with our sense of time, clocks and computerized society in an unprecedented way — but only for a second.
—CBS News, 27 Mar. 2024
Since the group got even stronger with transfer Lauren Betts, the top overall recruit in 2022, Brown has toyed with calling them the Sensational Six.
—Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2024
Yet in recent years, social media has begun toying with this most unholy combination to fascinating—and frightening—results.
—Jonathan Dale / The Takeout, Quartz, 17 Mar. 2024
OpenAI is also not the first entity to toy with memory in generative AI.
—Lauren Goode, WIRED, 13 Feb. 2024
At the same time, Weezer was happily toying with the kind of rock iconography Cuomo had grown up admiring in the likes of his beloved KISS.
—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The album was written and laid out to leave room for Pirog and Lewis to toy with melodies, trade solos and play together.
—Chris Kelly, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024
After dropping out of college to pursue music full-time during the pandemic, the band toyed with an upbeat modern indie/pop sound in the vein of early COIN or The 1975.
—Tess Growney, SPIN, 15 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'toy with.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near toy with
Cite this Entry
“Toy with.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toy%20with. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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