play with

phrasal verb

played with; playing with; plays with

: to move or handle (something) with one's hands or fingers often without thinking

Stop playing with that pen and pay attention to what I'm saying.

: to handle, change, or deal with (something) in a careless way

I played with the radio for a while but couldn't get it to work.

It's important to teach your children not to play with guns/fire/matches.

Don't play with my heart/emotions.

You have to take this seriously. You're playing with people's lives!

: to think about (something) briefly and not very seriously

I played with the idea of moving to Chicago but ended up staying in New York.

Examples of play with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Leonard played with purpose, scoring a total of 37 points in three games, including 31 in the third game of the day, which eliminated the World team. —

Janis Carr, Oc Register, 16 Feb. 2026 Plus, learn where to use them and how to play with scale, color, and pattern for an even more striking appearance. —

Kristina McGuirk, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 Feb. 2026 Karaban almost had a costly turnover on an inbound play with 14 seconds left, but the Huskies fouled up three and Mulready split his free throw attempts, setting up the game-clinching freebies from the Huskies’ captain. —

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 15 Feb. 2026 The premise plays with the supernatural, but Edwin insists the film’s true horror is its everyday economic realism. —

Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for play with