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

The couple considered renting out the storefront portion of the building while simultaneously toying with the idea of opening a business of their own. —Erik S. Hanley, jsonline.com, 8 Sep. 2025

Assembly Line Tubulin functions a bit like Tinkertoys, the building toy with modular parts. —Veronique Greenwood, Quanta Magazine, 8 Sep. 2025

When her mother leaves the room for a moment, she's accosted by a demonic entity that toys with her through funhouse-style reflections, creating this evil doppelganger of Judy. —Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Sep. 2025

Ed said Travis had been toying with getting down on one knee for months and thought about holding off. —Bryan West, The Tennessean, 30 Aug. 2025