v. t. 1. To put in action or motion; as, to play cannon upon a fortification; to play a trump. [ 1913 Webster ]

First Peace and Silence all disputes control,
Then Order plays the soul. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To perform music upon; as, to play the flute or the organ. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To perform, as a piece of music, on an instrument; as, to play a waltz on the violin. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute; as, to play tricks. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nature here
Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will
Her virgin fancies. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To act or perform (a play); to represent in music action; as, to play a comedy; also, to act in the character of; to represent by acting; to simulate; to behave like; as, to play King Lear; to play the woman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To engage in, or go together with, as a contest for amusement or for a wager or prize; as, to play a game at baseball. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To keep in play, as a hooked fish, in order to land it. [ 1913 Webster ]

To play hob, to play the part of a mischievous spirit; to work mischief. --
To play off, to display; to show; to put in exercise; as, to play off tricks. --
To play one's cards, to manage one's means or opportunities; to contrive. --
Played out, tired out; exhausted; at the end of one's resources. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Played p. pr. & vb. n. Playing. ] [ OE. pleien, AS. plegian, plegan, to play, akin to plega play, game, quick motion, and probably to OS. plegan to promise, pledge, D. plegen to care for, attend to, be wont, G. pflegen; of unknown origin. √28. Cf. Plight, n. ] 1. To engage in sport or lively recreation; to exercise for the sake of amusement; to frolic; to spot. [ 1913 Webster ]

As Cannace was playing in her walk. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,
Had he thy reason, would he skip and play! Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

And some, the darlings of their Lord,
Play smiling with the flame and sword. Keble. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless. [ 1913 Webster ]

“Nay, ” quod this monk, “I have no lust to pleye.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men are apt to play with their healths. Sir W. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To contend, or take part, in a game; as, to play ball; hence, to gamble; as, he played for heavy stakes. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To perform on an instrument of music; as, to play on a flute. [ 1913 Webster ]

One that . . . can play well on an instrument. Ezek. xxxiii. 32. [ 1913 Webster ]

Play, my friend, and charm the charmer. Granville. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To act; to behave; to practice deception. [ 1913 Webster ]

His mother played false with a smith. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate; to act; as, the fountain plays. [ 1913 Webster ]

The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play. Cheyne. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To move gayly; to wanton; to disport. [ 1913 Webster ]

Even as the waving sedges play with wind. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The setting sun
Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

All fame is foreign but of true desert,
Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To act on the stage; to personate a character. [ 1913 Webster ]

A lord will hear your play to-night. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Courts are theaters where some men play. Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

To play into a person's hands, to act, or to manage matters, to his advantage or benefit. --
To play off, to affect; to feign; to practice artifice. --
To play upon. (a) To make sport of; to deceive. [ 1913 Webster ] Art thou alive?
Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] (b) To use in a droll manner; to give a droll expression or application to; as, to play upon words. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any exercise, or series of actions, intended for amusement or diversion; a game. [ 1913 Webster ]

John naturally loved rough play. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act or practice of contending for victory, amusement, or a prize, as at dice, cards, or billiards; gaming; as, to lose a fortune in play. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair play; sword play; a play of wit. “The next who comes in play.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A dramatic composition; a comedy or tragedy; a composition in which characters are represented by dialogue and action. [ 1913 Webster ]

A play ought to be a just image of human nature. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The representation or exhibition of a comedy or tragedy; as, he attends ever play. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Performance on an instrument of music. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Motion; movement, regular or irregular; as, the play of a wheel or piston; hence, also, room for motion; free and easy action. “To give them play, front and rear.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The joints are let exactly into one another, that they have no play between them. Moxon. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Hence, liberty of acting; room for enlargement or display; scope; as, to give full play to mirth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Play actor, an actor of dramas. Prynne. --
Play debt, a gambling debt. Arbuthnot. --
Play pleasure, idle amusement. [ Obs. ] Bacon. --
A play upon words, the use of a word in such a way as to be capable of double meaning; punning. --
Play of colors, prismatic variation of colors. --
To bring into play,
To come into play, to bring or come into use or exercise. --
To hold in play, to keep occupied or employed. [ 1913 Webster ]

I, with two more to help me,
Will hold the foe in play. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Sp. ] A beach; a strand; in the plains and deserts of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, a broad, level spot, on which subsequently becomes dry by evaporation. Bartlett. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To perform on a stage or theater.
Syn. -- act, play, roleplay. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A printed programme of a play, with the parts assigned to the actors. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A book of dramatic compositions; a book of the play. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A day given to play or diversion; a holiday. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who plays, or amuses himself; one without serious aims; an idler; a trifler. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who plays any game. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A dramatic actor. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. One who plays on an instrument of music. “A cunning player on a harp.” 1 Sam. xvi. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A gamester; a gambler. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mechanically operated piano that uses a roll of perforated paper to activate the keys.
Syn. -- mechanical piano, Pianola. [ WordNet 1.5 ]