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# play

«play» in Mova's school dictionary: **to do something for fun, like a game or a sport** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (play, plays, played, playing); noun (a play, plays; play — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To play is to do something for fun, like a game or a sport. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#m1)

2) To play music is to make it with an instrument or to turn it on. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#m2)

3) To play a part is to act as a character in a show. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#m3)

4) A play is a story acted on a stage. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#m4)

5) Play is time spent having fun. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

an activity: games played, minutes played, people playing; also a show on a stage; phrases «play with», «play against», «play fair», «play a trick», «playtime», «role-play»

### examples

- The team played 22 games. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x1)
- He plays for 30 minutes each day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x2)
- 12 children are playing in the park. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x3)
- How many games did they play in all? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x4)
- She plays the violin. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x5)
- Our class put on a play about pirates. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x6)
- He played the wolf in the play. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x7)
- Let's play hide-and-seek. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x8)
- Play fair and take turns. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x9)
- Press play to start the song. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/#x10)

### note

An activity, little clue by itself. «each day» with it makes a rate. Trap: «games played» is a total of wins and losses (and ties). Past form «played». «Play a trick on someone» is a joke on them; keep tricks kind and safe.

### In the corpora

- [Grief gets gentler over months and years; playing and laughing during that time does not mean you have forgotten the person.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/24-when-someone-dies/14/)
- [Until the film makers announce it, who plays James Bond is only guessing by fans and betting sites.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/48-famous-people-are-people/19/)
- [Streaming plays the next episode automatically to keep you watching; turning off autoplay helps you decide when to stop.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/55-favourite-films-and-series-spoilers-binge-watching-streaming-and-adverts/13/)
- [Parental controls can ask for a PIN before films above a chosen age, such as 12 or 13+, will play.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/60-next-time-switch-off-tell-and-parental-controls/15/)
- [Checking the rating on a box, a poster or a streaming page before pressing play prevents many accidents.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/60-next-time-switch-off-tell-and-parental-controls/18/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «play» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/play/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.