PLAYS (ON OR UPON) Synonyms: 24 Similar Words

plays (on or upon)

verb

present tense third-person singular of play (on or upon)

as in uses

to take unfair advantage of the candidate played on the voters' prejudices

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for plays (on or upon)

Verb

The system uses natural ammonia as its working refrigerant, completely overcoming synthetic compounds like HCFCs and HFCs that contribute to global warming and ozone depletion.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2026
Hisense uses different operating systems in different regions for some of these TVs, but happily the new Dolby Vision 2 update will still work regardless of whether your UX, UR9, UR8 or U7 uses the Google TV or Hisense VIDAA smart platform.

— John Archer, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of uses

Verb

Before more cameras appear, your community deserves clear answers about who can search the records, how long the data stays available and what happens when someone abuses access.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026
New York City’s child welfare agency routinely abuses its emergency power to take children from their parents without a court order, creating lifelong consequences for families, a new class-action lawsuit seeking to end the practice alleged Thursday.

— Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 28 May 2026

Definition of abuses

Verb

Infantino leverages smaller federations' votes, who benefit greatly, to counter opposition from powerful confederations like UEFA, intensifying a power struggle within global football.

— Clemente Lisi, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
The flagship feature is Siri AI, a new approach to Siri that in many cases leverages large language models without having to kick requests to a third party.

— Samuel Axon, ArsTechnica, 27 July 2026

Definition of leverages

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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plays hooky

plays (on or upon)

plays out

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“Plays (on or upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plays%20%28on%20or%20upon%29. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of plays (on or upon)

verb

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