as in to use
to take unfair advantage of
the candidate played on the voters' prejudices
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for play (on or upon)
Verb
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The Los Angeles and Long Beach unified school districts, the county’s two largest districts, do not use LACOE’s portal for electronic tax documents and their employees were not affected, according to those districts.—
Jason Henry,
Daily News,
18 Apr. 2026 -
This interactive balance board connects to a free app where your body becomes the controller, using movement to play engaging games.—
Tory Johnson,
ABC News,
18 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This includes patching existing vulnerabilities and making sure that the permissions employees have are strictly limited so they can’t be exploited.—
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez,
Fortune,
13 Apr. 2026
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The question is whether billion-dollar industries should be free to use every psychological trick available to encourage and exploit addiction.—
Carla Gennaro,
Denver Post,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Sweetin became sober in 2008 after abusing drugs and alcohol for over a decade and has become a public advocate for recovery from addiction.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
13 Apr. 2026
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Since then, Swalwell’s support among organized labor, congressional allies and campaign donors has evaporated in the week since liberal influencers began posting vague accusations that Swalwell abused female staff and teasing forthcoming investigative articles.—
Lia Russell,
Sacbee.com,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Unlike Alibaba, ByteDance has largely kept its AI models proprietary, instead leveraging its product design and consumer experience strengths to win users.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
12 Apr. 2026
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By leveraging this extensive expertise in producing critical and complex systems, the company is well-positioned to deliver on its commitment to the Army while minimizing risk and driving seamless production of M776 cannons, as per the release.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
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There are seeds to grab, and in some cases, a team could essentially manipulate how their side of the bracket sorts itself out.—
Tim Reynolds,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Apr. 2026
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The case would also require testimony, which meant that at least one of Bateman’s wives needed to realize she was being manipulated and abused.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
10 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Play (on or upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/play%20%28on%20or%20upon%29. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
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