Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Play

Definition: Play

Play

Adjective

1. Imagined as in a play; "the make-believe world of theater"; "play money"; "dangling their legs in the water to catch pretend fish".

Noun

1. A dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage; "he wrote several plays but only one was produced on Broadway".

2. A theatrical performance of a drama; "the play lasted two hours".

3. A preset plan of action in team sports; "the coach drew up the plays for her team".

4. A deliberate coordinated movement requiring dexterity and skill; "he made a great play".

5. A state in which action is feasible; "the ball was still in play"; "insiders said the company's stock was in play".

6. Utilization or exercise; "the play of the imagination".

7. An attempt to get something; "they made a futile play for power"; "he made a bid to gain attention".

8. Play by children that is guided more by imagination than by fixed rules; "Freud believed in the utility of play to a small child".

9. (in games or plays or other performances) the time during which play proceeds; "rain stopped play in the 4th inning".

10. : the removal of constraints; "he gave free rein to his impulses"; "they gave full play to the artist's talent".

11. : a weak and tremulous light; "the shimmer of colors on iridescent feathers"; "the play of light on the water".

12. : verbal wit (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously); "he became a figure of fun".

13. : movement or space for movement; "there was too much play in the steering wheel".

14. : gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement; "it was all done in play"; "their frolic in the surf threatened to become ugly".

15. : the act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning (including the payment of a price for a chance to win a prize); "his gambling cost him a fortune"; "there was heavy play at the blackjack table".

16. : the activity of doing something in an agreed succession; "it is my turn"; "it is still my play".

17. : the act using a sword (or other weapon) vigorously and skillfully.

Verb

1. Participate in games or sports; "We played hockey all afternoon"; "play cards"; "Pele played for the Brazilian teams in many important matches".

2. Act or have an effect in a specified way or with a specific effect or outcome; "This factor played only a minor part in his decision"; "This development played into her hands"; "I played no role in your dismissal".

3. Play (music) on an instrument; "The band played all night long".

4. Play a role or part; "Gielgud played Hamlet"; "She wants to act Lady Macbeth, but she is too young for the role".

5. Be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children; "The kids were playing outside all day"; "I used to play with trucks as a little girl".

6. As of melodies; "Play it again, Sam"; "She played the third movement very beautifully".

7. Perform music on (a musical instrument); "He plays the flute"; "Can you play on this old recorder?".

8. Pretend to have certain qualities or state of mind; "He acted the idiot"; "She plays deaf when the news are bad".

9. Move or seem to move quickly, lightly, or irregularly; "The spotlights played on the politicians".

10. : bet or wager (money); "He played $20 on the new horse"; "She plays the races".

11. : engage in recreational activities rather than work; occupy oneself in a diversion; "On weekends I play"; "The students all recreate alike".

12. : pretend to be somebody in the framework of a game or playful activity; "Let's play like I am mommy"; "Play cowboy and Indians".

13. : emit recorded sound; "The tape was playing for hours"; "the stereo was playing Beethoven when I entered".

14. : perform on a certain location: "The prodigy played Carnegie Hall at the age of 16"; "She has been playing on Broadway for years".

15. : put (a card or piece) into play during a game, or act strategically as if in a card game; "He is playing his cards close to his chest"; "The Democrats still have some cards to play before they will concede the electoral victory".

16. : engage in an activity as if it were a game rather than take it seriously; "They played games on their opponents"; "play the stockmarket"; "play with her feelings"; "toy with an idea".

17. : behave in a certain way; "play safe," "play it safe";"play fair".

18. : cause to be emit recorded sounds: "They ran the tapes over and over again"; "Can you play my favorite record?".

19. : manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination; "She played nervously with her wedding ring"; "Don't fiddle with the screws"; "He played with the idea of running for the Senate:.

20. : use to one's advantage; "She plays on her clients' emotions".

21. : consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania".

22. : be received or accepted or interpreted in a specific way; "This speech didn't play well with the American public"; "His remarks played to the suspicions of the committee".

23. : behave carelessly or indifferently; "Play about with a young girl's affection".

24. : cause to move or operate freely within a bounded space, as of machinery; "The engine has a wheel that is playing in a rack".

25. : perform on a stage or theater; "She acts in this play"; "He acted in "Julius Caesar"; "I played in "A Christmas Carol".

26. : be performed; "What's playing in the local movie theater?"; " `Cats' has been playing on Broadway for many years".

27. : cause to happen or to occur as a consequence; "I cannot work a miracle" "wreak havoc"; "bring comments"; "play a joke"; "The rain brought relief to the drought-stricken area".

28. : discharge or direct or be discharged or directed as if in a continuous stream: "play water from a hose"; "The fountains played all day".

29. : make bets; "Play the reaces"; "play the casinos in Trouville".

30. : stake on the outcome of an issue; "I bet $100 on that new horse"; "She played all her money on the dark horse".

31. : shoot or hit in a particular manner; "She played a good backhand last night".

32. : use or move; "I had to play my queen".

33. : employ in a game or in a specific position; "They played him on first base".

34. : contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle; "Princeton plays Yale this weekend"; "Charlie likes to play Mary".

35. : exhaust by allowing to pull on the line; "play a hooked fish".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "play" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

Note: Play \Play\, intransitive verb [imperfect & past participle. Played; Playing.]. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Play

DomainDefinition

Computing

PLAY A language for real-time music synthesis. 1977. ["An Introduction to the Play Program", J. Chadabe ete al, Computer Music J 2,1 (1978)]. (1999-06-04). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.

Dream Interpretation

For a young woman to dream that she attends a play, foretells that she will be courted by a genial friend, and will marry to further her prospects and pleasure seeking. If there is trouble in getting to and from the play, or discordant and hideous scenes, she will be confronted with many displeasing surprises. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Electrical Engineering

To cause (a record or phonograph, for example) to emit recorded sounds. Source: European Union. (references)

Literature

Play "This may be play to you, `tis death to us." The allusion is to the fable of the boys throwing stones at some frogs. (Roger L'Estrange.)
As good as a play. So said King Charles when he attended the discussion of Lord Ross's "Divorce Bill." Source: Brewer's Dictionary.

Slang in 1811

PLAY. To play booty; to play with an intention to lose. To play the whole game; to cheat. To play least in sight; to hide, or keep out of the way. To play the devil; to be guilty of some great irregularity or mismanagement. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Specialty Definition: Chaos theory

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Established in the 1960s, chaos theory deals with dynamical systems that, while in principle deterministic, have a high sensitivity to initial conditions, because their governing equations are nonlinear. Examples for such systems are the atmosphere, plate tectonics, economies, and population growth.

Description of the theory

A non-linear dynamical system can in general exhibit one or more of the following types of behaviour:

The type of behaviour may depend on the initial state of the system and the values of its parameters, if any.

Chaotic motion

The most famous type of behaviour is chaotic motion, a non-periodic complex motion which has given name to the theory. In order to classify the behaviour of a system as chaotic, the system must be

Sensitivity on the initial conditions means that two such systems with however small a difference in their initial state eventually will end up with a finite difference between their states (However, two deterministic systems with identical initial conditions will remain identical).

An example of such sensitivity is the well-known butterfly effect, whereby the flapping of a butterfly's wings produces tiny changes in the atmosphere which over the course of time cause it to diverge from what it would have been and potentially cause something as dramatic as a tornado to occur. Other commonly known examples of chaotic motion are the mixing of colored dyes and airflow turbulence.

Transitivity means that application of the transformation on any given Interval I1 stretches it until it overlaps with any other given Interval I2.

The fourth condition means that for any point in the system and any real number ε > 0 there is another point with distance d ≤ ε which is located on an periodic orbit.

Strange attractors

One way of visualizing chaotic motion, or indeed any type of motion, is to make a phase diagram of the motion. In such a diagram time is implicit and each axis represents one dimension of the state. For instance, a system at rest will be plotted as a point and a system in periodic motion will be plotted as a simple closed curve.

A phase diagram for a given system may depend on the initial state of the system (as well as on a set of parameters), but often phase diagrams reveal that the system ends up doing the same motion for all initial states in a region around the motion, almost as though the system is attracted to that motion. Such attractive motion is fittingly called an attractor for the system and is very common for forced dissipative systems.

While most of the motion types mentioned above give rise to very simple attractors, such as points and circle-like curves called limit cycles, chaotic motion gives rise to what are known as strange attractors, attractors that can have great detail and complexity. For instance, a simple three-dimensional model of the Lorenz weather system gives rise to the famous Lorenz attractor. The Lorenz attractor is perhaps one of the best known chaotic system diagrams, probably because not only was it one of the first, but it is one of the most complex and as such gives rise to a very interesting pattern which looks like the eyes of an owl.

Strange attractors have fractal structure.

History

The theory has roots back to around 1950 when it first became evident for some scientists that linear theory, the prevailing system theory at that time, simply could not explain the observed behaviour of certain experiments like that of the logistic map. The main catalyst for the development of chaos theory was the electronic computer. Much of the mathematics of chaos theory involves the repeated iteration of simple mathematical formulas, which would be impractical to do by hand. Moore's law and the availability of cheaper computers has greatly increased the extent of chaos theory. As of 2003, chaos theory continues to be a very active area of research.

An early pioneer of the theory was Edward Lorenz whose interest in chaos came about accidentally through his work on weather prediction in 1961. Lorenz was using a basic computer to run his simulation of the weather. He wanted to see a sequence of data again and to save time he started the simulation in the middle of its course. He was able to do this by entering a printout of the data corresponding to conditions in the middle of his simulation which he had calculated last time.

To his surprise the weather that the machine began to predict was completely different to the weather calculated before. Lorenz tracked this down to only bothering to enter 3-digit numbers in to the simulation, whereas the computer had last time worked with 5-digit numbers. This difference is tiny and the consensus at the time would have been that it should have had practically no effect. However Lorenz had discovered that small changes in initial conditions produced large changes in the long-term outcome.

The importance of chaos theory can be illustrated by the following observations:

Mathematical theory

Mathematicians have devised many additional ways to make quantitative statements about chaotic systems. These include

Minimum complexity of a chaotic system

Many simple systems can also produce chaos without relying on partial differential equations, such as the logistic equation, which describes population growth over time.

Even discrete systems can heavily depend on initial conditions, such as cellular automata. Stephen Wolfram has investigated a cellular automaton with this property, termed by him rule 30.

Other examples of chaotic systems

See also: fractal, Dynamical systems and chaos theory, Benoit Mandelbrot, Mandelbrot set, Julia set, predictability, Mitchell Feigenbaum

References

Further Reading

Top     


Henry V (play)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Henry V is a play by William Shakespeare based on the life of King Henry V of England. It deals only with the events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years War.

It is important to note that the play was one of a series of "histories" written by Shakespeare, and would have been performed as such. Audiences would already have been familiar with "Prince Hal" as depicted in the Henry IV plays as a wild undisciplined lad. In Henry V, the young prince has grown into a mature man and is about to embark on the attempted conquest of France. Because of the scene changes that would have been required in order to convey the changes of location, Shakespeare introduces the character of Chorus (a throwback to the chorus of Greek and Roman drama), who acts as a kind of narrator, explaining developments to the audience and encouraging them to use their imaginations.

The early scenes deal with the embarkation of the fleet for France, and include a dramatised version of the real-life incident in which the Duke of Cambridge and two others plotted to assassinate Henry at Southampton. Henry's clever and ruthless uncovering of the plot is one indication of how he has changed from the earlier plays in which he appears.

As with all Shakespeare's serious plays, there are a number of minor characters, some definitely comic, whose activities are intended as a diversion for restless audiences. In this case, they are mostly common soldiers in Henry's army, and include Pistol, Nym, Bardolph, and Fluellen (Fluellen is a comically-stereotyped Welsh soldier, whose name is almost certainly a phonetic rendition of "Llewellyn"). The play also deals briefly with the death of Falstaff, another character from the Henry IV plays.

The play includes several well-known speeches, the most quoted of which, beginning, Once more unto the breach, dear friends..., actually comes not from the Agincourt scene, but from the scene depicting the siege of Harfleur, earlier in the play. As the action unfolds and victory looks less certain, the young king's heroic character is shown by his decision to wander around the English camp at night, in disguise, so as to comfort his soldiers and find out what they really think of him.

Following the victory at Agincourt, there is a charming scene in which Henry attempts to court his future wife, Catherine of Valois. This is not historically accurate, as the princess was only a child at the time of Agincourt, and their wedding did not take place for some years afterward.

Cast

Movie Versions

The play spawned two big screen movies of the same name as well as several made for TV or video movies.

why is one a (movie) and the other a (film)??????

External link

Top     


Play

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Fun

Play, (noun) or the act of playing (verb) refers to the act of engaging in unrestrained, amusing interaction with people or things, often in the context of learning. It is equally a common and a behavioural science term, and the act of playing has, in recent decades, come into light as essential behaviour of species' environmental and social adaptation processes (such as in learning basic hunting skills.). Playing tools are toys.

See also Playing with sand, Games, fair play.

Theatre

A play (noun) is a common literary form, usually consisting chiefly of dialog between characters, and usually intended for performance rather than reading. However, many scholars study plays in this more academic manner, particularly classical plays such as those of Shakespeare (rare authors, notably George Bernard Shaw, have had little preference whether their plays were performed or read). The term play refers both to the written works of dramatists and to the complete theatrical performances of such.

Plays are generally performed in a theatre, by actors. To better communicate a unified interpretation of the text in question, productions are usually overseen by a director, who often puts their own unqiue interpretation on the production. (see theatre and related topics for more detailed information on the process of producing plays for performance).

The interpretive nature of drama is what makes it so appealing to so many performers and audience members alike — because a playwright is incapable of presenting the play in its intended format (a performance) without the aid of the actors and a director (though he may choose to take any of these roles himself — Molière, for example, often acted in his own plays), a play is by definition undergoing constant rebirth and renewal as new experiences and interpretations are brought by new contributors.

See also: List of plays, List of playwrights

Music

To play is also the verb used for the activity of musicians creating music from musical instruments, and for performing as an actor (see above). None the less, these activities can be as much demanding work as any other skilled profession.

Specific play

Play is also the name of a specific play, written by Samuel Beckett; see Play (play).

Band

Play is also a new pop group from Norway, composed of four teenage girls. In 2002, the group toured the United States, and they have been on the covers of such teen magazines as Blast!, amongst others.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Play."

Top     


Play (album)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Play is a compilation of Swiss drum n' bass artists, released on September 8, 1997.

Tracks

  1. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
  2. Us Against The World
  3. Cinderella
  4. Hopelessy Devoted
  5. It Is Love
  6. I Don't Get Down Like That
  7. Disco Hippie

    Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Play (album)."

Top     


Play (band)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The factual accuracy of this article is disputed

Play is a name popular pop band, who founded in 2001.

Line-Up

Discography

External Links

Top     


Play (play)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Play is a play by Samuel Beckett. It was written in 1962 to 1963 and first produced in German as Spiel on June 14, 1963 at the Ulmer Theatre in Ulm-Donau in Germany. The first performance in English was in 1964 at the Old Vic in London.

The curtain rises to three people, two women and a man, in a row along the front of the stage with their heads sticking out of the tops of large urns, the rest of their bodies unexposed. They remain like this for the play's duration. There are a few short moments when all three speak at once, but in the main the play is made up of short, sometimes broken sentences spoken by one character at a time. Over the course of the play, it becomes apparent that the man has betrayed one of the women by having an affair with the other.

A spotlight is shone on whoever is speaking, leaving the other two characters in darkness. Beckett writes that this spotlight "provokes" the character's speech, and that a single, swivelling light should be used, rather than three lights switching on and off.

Near the end of the script, there is the terse instruction: "Repeat play." Beckett elaborates on this in notes, by saying that the repeat might be varied, by changing the intensity of the light, giving a breathless quality to the lines, or even shuffling some of the lines around. At the end of this second repeat, the play appears to start again for a third time, but does not get more than a few seconds into it before it suddenly stops.

Play is a relatively short play, with a typical performance lasting around twenty-five minutes.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Play (play)."

Top     


Play from scrimmage

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

A football play is the activity of the games of Canadian football andAmerican football during which one team tries to advance the ball or to score, and the other team tries to stop them or take the ball away. Once a play is over, and before the next play starts, the football is considered dead. A game of American football consists of many such plays.

The term is also used to denote a specific plan of action, or its execution, under a particular set of circumstances faced by either team. For instance, the offensive team may be faced with one or or two downs left in a possession and still ten or more yards to go to earn a new set of downs. In this instance, they may decide to employ a forward pass. Well in advance of the particular game, a number of different kinds of forward pass plays will have been planned out and practiced by the team. They will be designated by obscure words, letters and/or numbers so that the name of a play does not reveal its exact execution to outsiders. The team's coach, or perhaps the quarterback, will choose one of the pre-planned forward passing strategies, and tell the team, during the huddle which one has been chosen. Because of planning and practice, each player will know what his role in the play is to be, and how to execute it. This will be the offensive play.

Conversely, the defensive team will know that the offense has to cover a good deal of ground in a single play, will expect a forward pass, and will know from earlier study something of the propensities of the offense they face. The defensive captain is likely to call out a specific formation or defensive play, to anticipate and counteract the expected action by the offense.

The play will begin with the snap of the ball from the center to a back, usually the quarterback, and it will end when the effort by the offensive squad to advance the ball has either succeeded in scoring, or has been frustrated by the ball being downed before the aim of the offensive play is accomplished, or by the defensive squad having managed to come into possession of the ball without first downing it. In the event of change of possession during a play, the team newly in possession of the ball may try to advance it toward their own goal, which the team formerly in possession with naturally resist. Change of possession during a routine play may occur by interception or by fumble.

Change of possession may also occur in other ways. A change of possession can occur on downs, if the offensive team fails to achieve a first down or a touchdown in four attempts. Another way is through a change of possession play, when the offensive team, having surmised the unlikelihood of scoring or achieving a first down within four attempts, kicks the ball away in what is known as a punt. kickoffss and free kicks are not considered true change of possession plays

See also

Top     


Richard III (play)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Richard III is a play by William Shakespeare, in which the monarch Richard III of England is unflatteringly depicted. Critics have argued that this is because the ruling monarch of Shakespeare's time, Elizabeth I, was a descendant of Henry VII of England who had defeated the last Yorkist king and started the Tudor dynasty. Shakespeare's "history" plays were not, however, intended to be historically accurate -- this would have been an outlandish concept for the time -- but were designed for entertainment. As with Macbeth, Richard's supposed villainy is depicted as extreme in order to achieve maximum dramatic effect. The playwright never concerned himself with the veracity of his sources.

Warning: wikipedia contains spoilers

The play opens with the famous speech by Richard, beginning, Now is the winter of our discontent... The speech reveals Richard's jealousy and ambition, as his brother, Edward IV of England, rules the country successfully. With little attempt at chronological accuracy, Richard is shown ingratiating himself with "the Lady Anne" -- Anne Neville, widow of the Lancastrian Prince of Wales. Despite her prejudice against him, Anne is won over by his pleas and agrees to marry him. Richard, in collaboration with his friend Buckingham (Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham), plots to be the next king, and presents himself to the other lords as a modest, devout man with no pretensions to greatness. This causes them to select him as king after Edward IV's death, putting aside the claims of his innocent young nephews (the Princes in the Tower).

Richard's crimes go from bad to worse. He murders all who stand in his way, including the young princes, Lord Hastings, his former ally Buckingham, and even his wife. When he has lost all popular support, he faces the invading Earl of Richmond (Henry VII) at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Prior to the battle, Richard is visited by the ghosts of those whose deaths he has caused, all of whom tell him to Despair and die! Alone on the field at the climax of the battle, he utters the often-quoted line, A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse! He is defeated in hand-to-hand combat by Richmond, and dies dramatically.

Shakespeare's main source for his play was the chronicle of Raphael Holinshed. He may also have drawn on the work of Sir Thomas More, who was a protege of John Morton, one of Richard III's implacable enemies. More is supposed by some to have had a copy of Morton's manuscript of his version of the story, but this manuscript, if it ever existed, does not survive.

Richard III is the culmination of the cycle of Wars of the Roses plays. In Henry VI Part III, Shakespeare had already begun the process of building Richard's character into that of a villain, even though he could not possibly have been involved in some of the events depicted. From an overview of the cycle, it can be seen that Shakespeare's inaccuracy works both ways.

The most famous player of the part in recent times was Sir Laurence Olivier in the 1950s film version. His inimitable rendition has been satirised by many comedians including Peter Cook, and Peter Sellers (who had aspirations to do the role straight). Sellers' version of A Hard Day's Night was delivered in the style of Olivier as Richard III.

More recently, Shakespeare's Richard III has been brought to the screen by Sir Ian McKellen (1995) in an abbreviated version set in a 1930s fascist England, and by Al Pacino in the 1997 documentary, Looking for Richard.

The Cast
(links are to articles on the historical personages, who may not precisely correspond to Shakespeare's portrayal of them)

King Edward IV
Edward, Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward V, son to the king
Richard, Duke of York, son to the king
George, Duke of Clarence, brother to the king
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III, brother to the king
Edward, Earl of Warwick, young son of Clarence
Henry, Earl of Richmond, afterwards King Henry VII
Thomas Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury
Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York
John Morton, Bishop of Ely
Duke of Buckingham (Henry Stafford)
Duke of Norfolk (John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk)
Earl of Surrey, his son Thomas Howard)
Earl Rivers (Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers), brother to Queen Elizabeth
Marquess of Dorset (Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset), son to Queen Elizabeth
Lord Grey, son to Queen Elizabeth
Earl of Oxford (John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford)
William, 1st Lord Hastings
Lord Stanley (Thomas Stanley), afterwards Earl of Derby
Lord Lovel (Francis Lovell, Viscount Lovell)
Sir Thomas Vaughan
Sir Richard Ratcliffe
Sir William Catesby
Sir James Tyrrel
Sir James Blunt (James Blount)
Sir Walter Herbert
Sir Robert Brackenbury, Lieutenant of the Tower
Christopher Urswick, a priest
Another priest
Hastings, a pursivant
Tressel and Berkeley, gentlemen attending on the Lady Anne
Keeper in the Tower
Lord Mayor of London (Sir Edmund Shaa)
Sheriff of Wiltshire

Elizabeth Woodville, Queen to Edward IV
Margaret of Anjou, widow of Henry VI
Duchess of York (Cecily Neville), mother to King Edward IV, Clarence, and Gloucester
Lady Anne Neville, widow of Edward, Prince of Wales (son of Henry VI), afterwards married to Gloucester
Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, young daughter of Clarence

ghosts, lords, gentlemen, citizens, etc.

External Links:

http://classics.mit.edu/Shakespeare/richardiii/ - Full Text of Shakespeare's Play
http://www.r3.org/bookcase/shaksper/ -- Full text of Shakespeare's play, annotated with excerpts from the standard biography to provide comparison with the historical Richard III, from the Richard III Society, American Branch.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Richard III (play)."

Top     


Romeo and Juliet

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Romeo and Juliet is a famous play by William Shakespeare. The story originates through several retellings from a 1476 story of Mariotto and Gianozza by Masuccio Salernitano.

Romeo and Juliet was first performed on January 29, 1595.

Story

Romeo and Juliet is the story of Romeo Montague (Romeo Montecchi) and Juliet Capulet (Giulietta Capuleti), two children of warring families in Verona, Italy, who fall in love in contradiction to the rivalries of their relatives. The two seek to defy their parents and marry, perhaps bringing the two families to peace with each other, but this ultimately fails and they both commit suicide, each believing the other is already dead.

The play, along with many others by Shakespeare, is almost entirely written in iambic pentameter.

This is an early play by William Shakespeare and while it is often classified as a tragedy it does not bear the hallmarks of the 'great tragedies' like Hamlet and Macbeth. Romeo and Juliet are not flawed individuals, indeed much of their misfortune comes from the actions of others or from accident. It has been noted that the plot of Romeo and Juliet is more that of a farce or comedy of errors than a tragedy, except that it lacks the vital last-minute save and everyone dies at the end instead of living happily ever after.

Adaptations

Opera

The story was converted into the opera Romeo et Juliette by Charles François Gounod in 1867 with a libretto written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carrè.

Ballet

Several ballet adaptations of the story have been made, the first recorded in the 18th century. The best known feature music by Sergei Prokofiev, and a variety of choreographers have used this music. The first version featuring Prokofiev's music was performed in 1938.

Musical

The musical West Side Story, also made into a film, is based on Romeo and Juliet but updates the story to mid-20th century New York City and the warring families to ethnic gangs.

Movie versions

Thera have been over forty movie versions of the tale, with the first in 1900. Some of the more notable adaptations include:

;1936 - Romeo and Juliet, produced by Irving Thalberg

The 1936 screen version was one of the more notable. Irving Thalberg spared no expense, and showcased his wife, Norma Shearer, in the lead role. Romeo was played by Leslie Howard, John Barrymore was Mercutio, and Andy Devine was Peter, the servant to Juliet's nurse.
Academy Awards nominations:
  • Best Picture - Irving Thalberg, producer
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Basil Rathbone - as Tybalt
Best Actress - Norma Shearer
Best Art Direction - Cedric Gibbons, Fredric Hope and Edwin B. Willis

;1968 - Romeo and Juliet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli
Filmed in Italy, the casting of a young Olivia Hussey as Juliet has been considered as truly inspired. It won Oscarss for best cinematography and best costume design, and was nominated for Best Director.

;1996 - Romeo + Juliet, directed by Baz Luhrmann
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles, Luhrmann gave the famous tale a modern setting.
At the Berlin International Film Festival 1997, it won:
  • Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio)
Alfred Bauer Prize
Academy Awards 1996 nominations:
  • Best Art Direction (Catherine Martin)
Set Decoration (Brigitte Broch)

External links

Top     


Theater

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Theater (also Theatre in British and Commonwealth English) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle - indeed any one or more elements of the other performing arts. In addition to the standard narrative dialog style, theatre takes such forms as opera, ballet, mime, kabuki, chinese opera, and pantomime. Here is a list of acting terms.

Kinds of theater

"Drama" is that branch of theatre in which speech, either from written text (plays or "dramatic literature") or improvised, is paramount. "Musical theater" is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance routines, and spoken dialogue. There is a particularly long tradition of political theater, intended to educate audiences on contemporary issues and encourage social change. Various creeds, Catholicism for instance, have built upon the entertainment value of theatre and created (for example) mystery plays and morality plays.

There is an enormous variety of philosophies, artistic processes, and theatrical approaches to creating plays and drama. Some are connected to political or spiritual ideologies, and some are based on purely "artistic" concerns. Some processes focus on story, some on the theatre as event, some as theatre as a catalyst for social change. According to Aristotle's seminal theatrical critique Poetics, there are six elements necessary for theatre. They are Plot, Character, Idea, Language, Music, and Spectacle. The 17th-century Spanish writer Lope de Vega wrote that for theatre one needs "three boards, two actors, and one passion." Others notable for their contributtion to theatrical philosophy are Konstantin Stanislavski, Antonin Artaud, Bertolt Brecht, Orson Welles, Jerzy Grotowski.

20th Century American Playwrights

20th Century British Playwrights

20th Century German Language Playwrights

20th Century Irish Playwrights

See also: Irish theatre

Other 20th Century English-language playwrights

This gives a brief listing of some of the better-known playwrights; but theatre is a highly collaborative, multi-person, multi-media craft. Plays are usually produced by a production team*artistic staff combined with various technical, support, and design staff. Among these are the director, scenic designer, the lighting designer, the costume designer, the dramaturge, and the stage manager and production manager. This is not an all inclusive list, and may include other personnel from the world of technical theatre.

20th Century English Language Theatre Directors

20th Century Russian and French Theatre Directors

20th Century Polish Theatre Director

20th Century German Language Theatre Directors

Awards

See also*Repertory theatre, dramatist, list of dramatists, history of theatre, improvisational theatre, radio and television drama, summer stock, cinematic drama, suspension of disbelief

Theater building

A theatre is also the building in which works and plays are performed. There are as many styles of performance space as there are styles of performance, but most theatres include a designated "stage" or playing space, a designated audience area or "house," and some sort of off-stage area for preparation and storage, called "backstage," which is typically concealed from the audience. Theatres range from ornate, cathedral-like structures to simple undecorated rooms or black box theatres.

Some of these buildings are masterpieces of architecture. Others, often those known for opera, have become major cultural references and symbols.

The original Greek theatre was semicircular in form and was normally built on a hillside, often overlooking the sea. These theatres also typically included a "raked" or sloped stage, with the back of the stage being higher than the front. Such theatres were often constructed with excellent acoustics, so that a player standing centre stage could be clearly heard throughout the auditorium. The Romanss copied this style of building, but tended not to be so concerned about the location, being prepared to build walls and terraces instead of looking for a naturally-occurring site.

During the Elizabethan era in England, theatres were constructed of wood and were circular in form, like the Globe Theatre in London, home to William Shakespeare's troupe of actors. The Globe has now been rebuilt as a fully working and producing theatre near its original site (largely thanks to the efforts of film director Sam Wanamaker) to give modern audiences an idea of the environment for which Shakespeare and other playwrights of the period were writing.

Contemporary theatres are often non-traditional, such as very adaptable spaces, or theatres where audience and performers are not separated. A major example of this is the modular theatre, (see for example the Walt Disney Modular Theatre). This large theatre has floors and walls divided into small movable sections, with the floor sections on adjustable hydraulic pylons, so that the space may be adjusted into any configuration for each individual play. As new styles of theatre performance have evolved, so has the desire to improve or recreate performance venues. This applies equally to artistic and presentation techniques, such as stage lighting.

Specific designs of contemporary live theaters include proscenium, thrust, black box theater, theater in the round, amphitheater, and arena. A special kind of theater is one in a train carriage (picture). See also movie theater and puppet theater.

See also: Stagecraft,Technical theater, Theater Techniques, Opera house, Home Theater, Irish theatre

simple:Theater zh-cn:剧场 zh-tw:劇場

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Theater."

Top     

Abbreviations & Acronyms: Play

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
EntrySourceExpressionField

PLAY

EnglishHW/SW for:storage of various music input,conversion of different Braille syntax into sound,graphics,Braille output and telematic accessComputing, Social Sciences

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Top     

Synonyms: Play

Synonyms: make-believe (adj), play(a) (adj), pretend (adj), bid (n), caper (n), child's play (n), drama (n), free rein (n), frolic (n), fun (n), gambling (n), gambol (n), gaming (n), looseness (n), maneuver (n), manoeuvre (n), period of play (n), playing period (n), romp (n), shimmer (n), sport (n), turn (n), act (v), act as (v), bet (v), bring (v), dally (v), diddle (v), encounter (v), fiddle (v), flirt (v), make for (v), meet (v), playact (v), recreate (v), represent (v), roleplay (v), run (v), spiel (v), take on (v), toy (v), trifle (v), wager (v), work (v), wreak (v). (additional references)
Antonym: tightness (n). (additional references)

Top     

Synonyms within Context: Play

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Action

Verb: do, perform, execute; achieve; (complete); transact, enact; commit, perpetrate, inflict; exercise, prosecute, carry on, work, practice, play.

Agency

Verb: be -in action; Adjective: operate, work; act, act upon; perform, play, support, sustain, strain, maintain, take effect, quicken, strike.

Noun: agency, operation, force, working, strain, function, office, maintenance, exercise, work, swing, play; interworking, interaction; procurement.

Evolution

Verb: oscillate; vibrate, librate; alternate, undulate, wave; rock, swing; pulsate, beat; wag, waggle; nod, bob, courtesy, curtsy; tick; play; wamble, wabble; dangle, swag.

Freedom

Scope, range, play; free play, full play, free scope, full scope; free stage and no favor; swing, full swing, elbowroom, margin, rope, wide berth; Liberty Hall.

Influence

Footing; purchase; (support); play, leverage, vantage ground.

Representation

Personate, personify; impersonate; assume a character; pose as; act; play; (drama); mimic; (imitate); hold the mirror up to nature.

Space

Lalatitude, play, leeway, purchase, tolerance, room for maneuver.

The Drama

Verb: act, play, perform; put on the stage; personate; mimic; (imitate); enact; play a part, act a part, go through a part, perform a part; rehearse, spout, gag, rant; "strut and fret one's hour upon a stage"; tread the boards, tread the stage; come out; star it.

Use

Ply, work, wield, handle, manipulate; play, play off; exert, exercise, practice, avail oneself of, profit by, resort to, have recourse to, recur to, take betake oneself to; take up with, take advantage of; lay one's hands on, try.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Top     

Crosswords: Play

English words defined with "play": baseball play, basketball play ♦ child's play ♦ Double play ♦ football play ♦ miracle play, Moral play, morality play, mystery play ♦ out of play ♦ passing play, Passion play, period of play, play along, play out, play reading, play therapy ♦ running play ♦ squeeze play ♦ To mount a play, To play booty, To play dummy, To play for love, To play rex, To play upon, trap play, triple play. (references)
Specialty definitions using "play": Bring into Play ♦ Fair Play is a Jewel ♦ play by electronic mail, Play the Deuce, Play, Inc., plug and play ♦ TOWER HILL PLAY. (references)
Etymologies containing "play": Treacher. (references)

Top     

Modern Usage: Play

DomainUsage

Screenplays

I'm not in a play right now, but I will be. I'm going to New York-- (Singin' in the Rain; writing credit: Betty Comden; Adolph Green)

Tonya, can you play the balalaika (Doctor Zhivago; writing credit: Boris Pasternak; Robert Bolt)

Wednesday, play with your food (Addams Family; writing credit: Caroline Thompson, Larry Wilson)

You're not someone I could get interested in, Craig, you play with dolls (Being John Malkovich; writing credit: Charlie Kaufman)

Play it again, Sam. (Moonraker; writing credit: Christopher Wood)

Lyrics

Play it all night long (Play; performing artist: Jennifer Lopez)

The playas gon' play (Playas Gon' Play; performing artist: 3LW)

Games people play in the middle of the night (Games People Play; performing artist: Alan Parsons Project)

And I watched our little girl outside at play (I Don't Wanna Play House; performing artist: Tammy Wynette)

And I can dance better than any kid n' play (Play that funky music; performing artist: Vanilla Ice)

Clever

Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions. (references; author: Mark Twain)

I didn't like the play, but then I saw it under adverse conditions - the curtain was up. (references; author: Groucho Marx)

If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf. (references; author: Bob Hope)

Oklahoma: Like The Play, Only No Singing (references; author: unknown)

Love: The only game that two can play and both can win. (references; author: unknown)

Tongue Twisters

Pick a partner and practice passing, for if you pass proficiently, perhaps you'll play professionally. (references; author: unknown)

Movie/TV Titles

Medieval Theater: The Play of Abraham and Isaac (1974)

Play Guitar with Ulf Goran (1974)

Sex Play (1974)

Play to Learn (1974)

Triple Play (1974)

Song Titles

Play A Simple Melody (performing artist: Gary Crosby and Friend)

Play (performing artist: Jennifer Lopez)

Games People Play (performing artist: Joe South)

I Bet You Won't Play This Song On The Radio (performing artist: Monty Python)

Dinosaurs At Play (performing artist: Tom Paxton)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Commercial Usage: Play

DomainTitle

References

  • Play By Play Toys & Novelties, Inc.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

    (more reference examples)

  

Books

  • Play the Intentional Avoidance of Work (reference)

  • Fiddle Tunes for Harmonica: Irish and American Playable on All Tunes, Reels Jigs, Hornpipesm Waltzes, Playing Instructions Plus How to Play Back Up (reference)

  • Beginning Backgammon: Strategy and Tactics for Winning Play (reference)

  • Hassan: The Story of Hassan of Bagdad and How He Came to Make the Golden Journey to Samarkand a Play in Five Acts (reference)

  • How to Play the Bagpipe (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Periodicals

  • Association For The Study Of Play Newsletter (reference)

  • International Journal Of Play Therapy (reference)

  • International Society For Child And Play Therapy - Play Therapy International Membership (reference)

  • Journal Of The National Association Of Hospital Play Staff (reference)

  • Play Action (reference)

    (more periodical examples)

  

Theater & Movies

  • Fushigi Yugi - The Mysterious Play - Volume 2, Seiryu (reference)

  • Zoboomafoo - Play Day at Animal Junction (reference)

    (more DVD examples; more video examples)

  

Music

  

High Tech

  

Consumer Goods

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Image Slideshow: Play

Photos:
Play

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Play

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Play

More pictures...

Top     

Photo Album: Play

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Several young children can be seen playing with toy trucks and their pet rabbits. They are outdoors on a summer day, building a play construction site. A farmstyle house and mountains can be seen in the background. These people are part of a large Mormon family who are being studied for their low cancer death rate. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer).

Pictured is a group of children, part of a large Morman family. One of the adolescents is leading the other children in play exercises, including pushups. It is a family room and the children are all on the floor. The Mormons are presently being studied for their low cancer death rate. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer).

Physically challenged children at play. Credit: CDC.

Aedes mediovittatus is known to be a container breeder, and may play a role in the inter-epidemic transmission of Dengue Fever. Credit: CDC.

Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. People at play. Credit: CDC.

The NF-16D VISTA will give the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., flexibility by providing one aircraft that can play the role of several fighters. It also provides students an opportunity to learn how to test future integra.

U.S. Air Force Academy Falcons' fullback Nate Beard evades Fresno State Bulldogs' Bryce McGill for a seven yard gain during this play in the first quarter of the Silicon Valley Football Classic Dec. 30. The Falcons went on to win the game 37-34. (Air Forc.

Horses at play in Linn County, Oregon. Credit: Ron Nichols.

Kids play in the quiet street at the completed self help homes in Placerville, CA. Credit: USDA.

Soldiers and play in the Pioneer festival scene at the NHOTIC. Credit: BLM Staff.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Top     

Digital Photo Gallery: Play
 

"Play a drum" by Mirko
Commentary: "My friend's concert."		"Snooker play in pub" by Adam Kurzok
Commentary: "Snooker table in pub, christmas time, nice light reflection, bit blurred free to use, just click www.creactive.cz."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

Top     

Sounds Captioned with "Play".

PlayCaption
Electronic sound of a computerized pinball machine when the pinball is shot into play.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Familiar Quotations: Play

AuthorQuotation

Elbert Hubbard

Play needs direction as well as work.

Horace

Let a play have five acts neither more nor less.

John Ruskin

The last act crowns the play.

Lao Tse

One actor cannot make a play.
Those who have free seats at the play hiss first.

Ovid

In our play we reveal what kind of people we are.

Sam Snead

Forget your opponents; always play against par.

Thomas Fuller

With foxes we must play the fox.

William Shakespeare

If music be the food of love; play on.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Historic Usage: Play

AuthorDateQuotation

Winston S. Churchill

1946

And here I speak particularly of the myriad cottage or apartment homes where the wage-earner strives amid the accidents and difficulties of life to guard his wife and children from privation and bring the family up in the fear of the Lord, or upon ethical conceptions which often play their potent part. ("Iron Curtain" Speech)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Use in Literature: Play

TitleAuthorQuote

Emma

Austen, Jane

She appeared to me to play well, that is, with considerable taste, but I know nothing of the matter myself

A Christmas Carol

Dickens, Charles

To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him.

Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne, Nathaniel

It was like nothing so much as the phantasmagoric play of the northern lights

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

This indifferent play on words had the effect of a stone thrown into a pool

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Joyce, James

And how many of those tiny little grains go to make up the small handful which a child grasps in its play.

King Richard III

Shakespeare, William

Ah, Buckingham, now do I play the touch, To try if thou be current gold indeed

Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John

Go out and play.

Gulliver's Travels

Swift, Jonathan

And last the boys and girls would venture to come and play at hide and seek in my hair

Walden

Thoreau, Henry David

There is no play in them, for this comes after work

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Non-Fiction Usage: Play

SubjectTopicQuote

Health

Learn to play a musical instrument. (references)

The child seems to prefer to play alone. (references)

It allows you to recognize friends, read books, and play games. (references)

Business

Price tends to play a lesser role in the purchase. (references)

Chemical medicines play very important role in medicine production. (references)

Sick Funds will also play a greater role in reimbursement decisions. (references)

Children

Bahrain

Independent and quasi-governmental organizations, such as the Bahraini Society for the Protection of Children and the Mother and Child Welfare Society, play an active part in protecting children by providing counseling, legal assistance, advice, and, in some cases, shelter and financial support to distressed children and families. (references)

Saudi Arabia

In general children play a minimal role in the workforce; however, there have been numerous reports that young boys of Saudi, Sudanese, and South Asian origin are used as jockeys in camel races. (references)

Civil Liberties

Turkey

Stations that play Kurdish songs not on the limited play list risk temporary bans or closure. (references)

Discrimination

Samoa

While there is discrimination against women and nonmatai, who only occasionally may reach high office, women (and particularly female matai) play an important role in society. (references)

Economic History

Japan

Although labor unions play an important role in the annual determination of wage increases throughout the economy, only 21.5 percent of Japanese workers are now union members. (references)

Israel

Price will play an important role in determining the size of the U.S. market share, but studies indicate that the Israeli consumer appreciates quality and is willing to pay a premium of up to ten percent for a high quality product. (references)

Human Rights

Chad

NGO's have gained recognition under the Deby regime and play a role in political events. (references)

Iraq

In 1997 members of the national football team reportedly were beaten and tortured on Uday's orders because of poor play in a World Cup qualifying match. (references)

Azerbaijan

Although Hasanov's relatives suspect that police mistreatment played a role in his death, a Ministry of Internal Affairs investigation revealed no foul play. (references)

Indigenous People

Peru

Many indigenous persons lack basic documents such as a birth certificate or a voter's registration card that normally would identify them as full citizens and enable them to play an active part in society. (references)

Minorities

Central African Republic

The Mbororo make up approximately 5 percent of the population but play a preponderant role in the economy; they are involved in mining development and remain the most important cattle breeders in the country. (references)

Political Economy

BAHRAIN

Oil and gas continue to play a dominant role in Bahrain's economy, providing two-thirds of total exports. (references)

Political Rights

Mexico

Nonetheless, individual female politicians play key roles in national politics. (references)

Uganda

The percentage of women in government and politics does not correspond to their percentage of the population; however, they play an influential role in national affairs. (references)

China

A number of small "democratic" parties that date from before the Communist takeover in 1949 play a minor consultative role and must pledge their allegiance to the CCP. The CCP retains a tight rein on political decision-making and forbids the creation of new political parties. (references)

Trade

Denmark

Institutional investors such as pension funds also play a major role in financing Danish companies, and such investments are usually carried out following individual negotiations. (references)

Turkey

Offset proposals play an important role in the decision to award large defense contracts. (references)

South Africa

Today DBSA is expected to play a major role in mobilizing and providing loan finance and technical assistance for major development projects in South Africa and in neighboring Southern African countries. (references)

Travel

Egypt

When doing business in Egypt, be prepared to play it in the Egyptian tradition, or you may waste your time. (references)

Austria

Correspondence and visits play a significant role in doing business in Austria. (references)

Ireland

These airports play an important role in meeting the tourism and transport needs of the regions. (references)

Women

Nigeria

Women remain underrepresented in the formal sector but play an active and vital role in the country's important informal economy. (references)

Spain

Women outnumber men in the legal, journalism, and health care professions but still play minor roles in many other fields. (references)

Thailand

It continues to play an important role in securing the inclusion of gender-equality clauses in legislation that create new government organizations mandated by the 1997 Constitution. (references)

Worker Rights

South Africa

The CCMA also gradually is beginning to play an interventionist role by becoming involved in disputes before they deteriorate into full-fledged strikes or lockouts. (references)

Sri Lanka

Most large unions are affiliated with political parties and play a prominent role in the political process, though major unions in the public sector are politically independent. (references)

Grenada

Union leaders play a significant role in the political process, and one labor leader serves in the Senate on behalf of the Grenada Trades Union Council (GTUC). (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

ELECTRICITY, n. The power that causes all natural phenomena not known to be caused by something else. It is the same thing as lightning, and its famous attempt to strike Dr. Franklin is one of the most picturesque incidents in that great and good man's career. The memory of Dr. Franklin is justly held in great reverence, particularly in France, where a waxen effigy of him was recently on exhibition, bearing the following touching account of his life and services to science: "Monsieur Franqulin, inventor of electricity. This illustrious savant, after having made several voyages around the world, died on the Sandwich Islands and was devoured by savages, of whom not a single fragment was ever recovered." Electricity seems destined to play a most important part in the arts and industries. The question of its economical application to some purposes is still unsettled, but experiment has already proved that it will propel a street car better than a gas jet and give more light than a horse.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Top     

Spoken Usage: Play

SpeakerPhrase(s)

Dennis Miller

They're a democracy trying to abide by Western norms in a region that does not play by those rules.

Dennis Quaid

Very similar, I got to say. My son's my best friend. And that's what I brought to the party. Jim is that way, too. The guy I play. He's that kind of dad. Then they also had the relationship between him and his own father, which is not so great.

Dick Van Dyke

I don't cuss, and I don't play cards. So I had to learn on to swear, and I had to learn to play cards. I had to learn to shuffle and deal.

Gail Evans

That every businesswoman needs to know that you are a member of the team, and you need to play that way for your own success and for everybody else's success. And we haven't been doing that.

Mary Tyler Moore

Right. We changed the sex of a couple of the key players because there was a flirtatious bit of tomfoolery between me and the nurse. And in Tom's play, it had been a woman. In my play, it became a man.

Prince Albert of Monaco

Yeah. I used to play in my youth. I used to play for AS Monaco, for the, you know, Monaco football team.

Rush Limbaugh

Remember, we're only dealing with North Korea as it is because Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Madeleine Albright gave them two nuclear reactors to play with.

Suzanne Somers

Little boys are so full of testosterone and energy, and I have two grandsons that bite each other constantly, but then the girls, they like to play in the corner, and they're just different.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Speeches: Play

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

Woodrow Wilson

1913-1921We remembered well enough that we had set up a policy which was meant to serve the humblest as well as the most powerful, with an eye single to the standards of justice and fair play, and remembered it with pride.

Harry S. Truman

1945-1953State and local governments also have an essential role to play in a national public works program.

Richard Nixon

1969-1974Your National Government has a great and vital role to play.

Jimmy Carter

1977-1981The Federal government has a special role to play in science and technology.

Ronald Reagan

1981-1989Each Member of the Congress has a role to play in modernizing our defenses, thus supporting our chances for a meaningful arms agreement.

Bill Clinton

1993-2001Every one of us has a role to play on this team.

George W. Bush

2001-2005I don't want to play football until I can play with you again some day.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Usage Frequency: Play

"Play" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 54.56% of the time. "Play" is used about 19,724 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words		Rank in English
Lexical Verb (infinitive)54.56%10,761863
Noun (singular)30.89%6,0941,601
Lexical Verb (base form)14.5%2,8603,245
Unclassified Items0.03%5157,705
Noun (proper)0.03%5157,705
                    Total100.00%19,724N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top     

Usage in Company Names: Play

CountryName
USA

Play By Play Toys & Novelties, Inc.

 (more examples...)

Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

Top     

Expressions: Play

Expressions using "play": A play upon words ♦ abandon play ♦ as good as a play ♦ at play ♦ baseball play ♦ basketball play ♦ be fit for play ♦ begin to play ♦ Boy's play ♦ bring into play ♦ call into play ♦ cards to play ♦ childs play ♦ child's play ♦ costume play ♦ covered part of the play ground ♦ Cudgel play ♦ don't play the simpleton! ♦ Double play ♦ drama play ♦ draw play ♦ Edge play ♦ End play ♦ Fair play ♦ football play ♦ foul play ♦ free play ♦ free play exercise ♦ full play ♦ gain full play ♦ get full play ♦ go to see a play ♦ go to the play ♦ grandstand play ♦ gripping play ♦ have free play ♦ have full play ♦ in full play ♦ in play ♦ it's child's play ♦ long play ♦ love play ♦ make a play for smb. ♦ make play ♦ make play of ♦ match play ♦ medal play ♦ miracle play ♦ moral play ♦ morality play ♦ mount a play ♦ musical play ♦ mystery play ♦ nativity play ♦ net play ♦ out of play ♦ passing play ♦ passion play ♦ perform in a play ♦ period of play ♦ play a card ♦ play a dirty trick on smb. ♦ play a double game ♦ play a duet ♦ play a fish ♦ play a full house ♦ play a game of bridge ♦ play a good game ♦ play a good knife and fork ♦ play a hoax on smb. ♦ play a hose on ♦ play a hunch ♦ play a joke on ♦ play a joke on smb. ♦ play a liaison role ♦ play a lone hand ♦ play a musical instrument ♦ play a part ♦ play a practical joke on smb. ♦ play a prank ♦ play a prank on smb. ♦ play a request ♦ play a request for smb. ♦ play a role ♦ play a rough game ♦ play a trick ♦ play a trick on ♦ play a trick on smb. ♦ play a trump ♦ play a wrong note ♦ play about ♦ play about with ♦ play act ♦ play actor ♦ play again ♦ play along ♦ play amiss ♦ play among havoc ♦ play an active role ♦ play an important part ♦ play an instrument. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "play": play-act, play-acted, play-acting, play-actor, play-actress, play-and-pleasure, play-anywhere, play-anywhereness, play-attack, play-back, play-backs, play-bike, play-bill, play-bills, play-books, play-by-play, play-caller, play-centre, play-day, play-do, play-doctoring, Play-doh, play-dough, play-down, play-ed, play-extracts, play-field, play-fighting, play-fought, play-ground, play-group, play-groups, play-hour, play-ing, Play-inn, play-maker, play-makers, play-making, play-mates, play-money, play-music, play-off, play-off among losers, play-offs, play-once, play-on-fear-of-greenhouse-effect, play-orientated, play-outs, play-over, play-park, play-pause, play-peg, play-pen, play-pens, play-rather, play-reading, play-readings, play-room, play-scheme, play-school, play-schools, play-script, play-scripts, play-text, play-texts, play-themes, play-throughs, play-time, play-type, play-types, play-with-yourself-in-a-day, play-world, play-wright, play-wrights, play-writing, play-yard, play-yards.

Ending with "play": foul-play, horse-play, love-play, match-play, pay-for-play, plug-and-play, power-play, stage-play, Stroke-play, word-play.

Containing "play": all-play-all.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Play

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day		ExpressionFrequency
per Day

game to play

12,982

play poker

1,342

play station 2 cheat

11,276

play chess

1,326

play station 2

10,557

sony play station 2

1,319

play station

9,406

play guitar

1,308

play

8,530

play station 2 emulator

1,284

play station cheat

6,505

sony play station

1,190

cheat code play station 2

5,387

cold play

1,135

play station cheat and code

3,187

broadway play

1,054

play free game

2,970

emulador play station

1,030

code for play station 2

2,917

play station 2 walk through

967

play station 2 game

2,907

play station 2 game cheat

934

play station emulator

2,759

cat play

865

free game to play online

2,583

play pool

855

play station 3

2,547

play station iso

855

play station code

1,893

play card game

829

play station game

1,844

play station ii

791

play game online

1,801

play station game cheat

788

play station rom

1,777

play card

781

media play

1,741

play house disney.com

759

play it again sports

1,638

play station rom download

733
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Modern Translation: Play

Language Translations for "play"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Afrikaans

  

speel. (various references)

   

Albanian

  

veprim (act, action, activity, agency, deed, doing, engagement, fact, motion, move, movement, operation, procedure, proceeding, reaction, step, transaction, turn), tur, shaka (badinage, crack, facetiae, gag, hoax, jape, jest, jocosity, jocularity, joke, lark, persiflage, pleasantry, prank, quiz, spoof, trick, waggery), radhë (batch, consecution, cue, file, inning, innings, place, queue, range, rank, row, run, series, tier, turn), ndeshje (clash, collision, combat, competition, encounter, fight, fighting, jarring, match), luaj kumar (gamble), luaj (act, come, enact, fidget with, fool about, fool around, game, interpret, palter, perform, personate, playact, toy, twiddle, wiggle, wriggle), lojë (fun, game, joke, kiss-in-the-ring, performance, toy, trick), lodër (drum, game, plaything, sporting, tiddly-winks, toy), interpretoj (construe, explain, interpret, perform, personate, portray, read, take), hapësirë (area, clearance, elbow room, expanse, expansion, extent, headway, ocean, precinct, range, space, span, Weald, wideness), endet, dramë (drama), bie (abate, attach, attack, bang out, bite, blow over, break down, bring, burn down, chime, come a cropper, come down, crash, crash down, crumple, cut, decline, descend, devolve, drop, fall, fall off, fall on, finger, flake off, flop, give, go, go down, hoot, pitch, plunge, plunk, recede, sink, strike, subside, throw down, tumble), bëj gjoja (pretend). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏تمثيلية (farce), ‏إشترك في لعبة, ‏طريقة اللعب, ‏عزف (execute, fiddle, lute, perform, pick, play away, render, set a piano, strike), ‏تسلى (entertain, fool around with, monkey with, sport), ‏تسلية (amusement, dissipation, distraction, diversion, entertainment, pastime, rec, recreation, relaxation, resource, sport), ‏تلاعب (cook, doctor, juggle, jugglery, manipulate, manipulation, monkey with, rig, tamper, wangle), ‏تلاعب بالألفاظ, ‏باري (compare, emulate, match, rival), ‏تمثيل (creation, mayhem, performance, personification, picture, representation, sculpture, sham, torture), لعب (game, sport, to play), ‏حرك حجر الشطرنج, ‏لعب (game, move, play about, playing, sport), ‏لعب دور (function), ‏لعب مع, ‏لعبة (cat's paw, game, merry go round, plaything, poppet, servant, tool, toy, vehicle), ‏مثل (act, adage, aphorism, appear, as, be a symbol for, be typical of, byword, case, depict, describe, example, exemplify, gnome, illustrate, illustration, instance, like, like this, maxim, perform, play act, portray, proverb, represent, saying, sculpt, show, stand before, stand for, such, such as, symbolize, typify), ‏مسرحية (drama, performance, show, spectacle), ‏مسابقة (bout, competition, concurrence, contest, quiz, quiz programme, race, tournament, tourney), ‏تنافس (compete, competition, contend, contention, contest, discord, jostle, joust, rivalry, vie). (various references)

   

Asturian

  

xugar (to play). (various references)

   

Aymara

  

anataña (to play). (various references)

   

Basque

  

jolastu (play to), jokatu (play to). (various references)

   

Bemba

  

ukwangala (recreation, to play). (various references)

   

Blackfoot

  

á'psskootsiiyi (to play). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

забава (entertainment, fun, party, performance), държане (bearing, behavior, behaviour, carriage, conduct, dealing, keeping, manner, port, presence), изпълнявам (accomplish, accord, act up to, carry into effect, carry out, complete, effectuate, execute, exercise, fill, fulfil, fulfill, handle, implement, make up, perform, practise, pursue, put into effect, put through, redeem, satisfy, verify), имам луфт, игра (acting, game, hand, pastime, recreation, scamper, slack, sport), играя (act, dance, disport oneself, do, enact, lead, perform, present, represent, run about, shoot, sport, support, twitch, wanton, waver), пиеса (piece, stage play), поведение (bearing, behavior, behaviour, conduct, counsel, courses, demeanor, demeanour, deportment, goings on), правя се на (act, personate, put on, seem, simulate), представление (act, entertainment, house, night, performance, production, puppetry, representation, show), просвирвам (play back, replay, run through), простор (elbow room, expanse, margin, scope, vast, vastness, vent), пускам (admit, bleed, cast off, course, discharge, dismiss, drive, drop, float, fly, give off, grow, issue, let, let fall, let go, let loose, mail, push out, put forth, put on, put out, release, rip out, run, send forth, slip, start, start up, throw in, turn out, uncork, unhand, unleash), луфт (clearance, slack, windage), действие (act, action, deed, effect, movements, operation, performance, potency, process, run, scene, scourge), отношение (attitude, bearing, concern, contact, count, deal, dealing, feeling, posture, proportion, ratio, reference, regard, relation, relationship, respect, sentiment, stance, treatment), свободен ход, свобода (ease, freedom, glibness, independence, liberty, loose, margin, unconstraint), свиря (blare, chime, finger, grind, perform, pipe, sing, tune), спектакъл (spectacle), ход (action, bat, course, current, foot, gait, going, lapse, motion, move, movement, operation, pace, passage, passing, ploy, process, race, rate, run, running, stream, swing, tenor, tide, track, train, tread, twist, walk, way), забавление (amusement, enjoyment, entertainment, jolly, pastime, recreation, sport), хлабина (slack), забавлявам се (be amused, enjoy, have fun, roll about, sport, step out), обстрелвам (fire, pelt, pepper, pound, search), насочвам се (orientate, stand), начин на игра, мъртъв ход (backlash), маневра (evolution, gambit, maneuver, manoeuvre, move, movement, ploy, shunt), съдействувам (abet, aid, co operate, collaborate, concur, conduce, help up, minister, promote), хазарт (gamble, gambling, gaming). (various references)

   

Catalan

  

jugar. (various references)

   

Cebuano

  

magdula (to play). (various references)

   

Chamorro

  

para man hugando (to play). (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

遊戲 (game), 踢 (kick), 表演 (act, demonstrate, exhibition, perform, performance, show), 劇 (drama, severe, show, to frighten, to intimidate, to scare, to threaten), 抹 (brassiere, girdle, Siam, to plaster, to smear), 演出 (perform), 戏剧, 戲劇 (drama, theater), 戲 (drama, show, trick). (various references)

   

Cornish

  

gwary (game, to play). (various references)

   

Czech

  

hrát (act, appear, perform). (various references)

   

Danish

  

spille (shiver), lege. (various references)

   

Dutch

  

voorspelen, uitvoeren (accomplish, achieve, act, carry out, do, equip, export, introduce, keep, make, observe, perform, present, produce), toneelstuk (drama, theatre play), spelen (introduce, offer, perform, present, put on the stage, tender, trumpet). (various references)

   

Ecuadorian Quechua

  

pucllana (to play). (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

teatraĵo (theatre play), ludi sur (play on), ludi. (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

spæla, sjónleikur (show, spectacle, theatre play). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

نمایشنامه (Drama), نمایش (Appearance, Display, Drama, Exhibition, Exposure, Histrionics, Ostentation, Parade, Performance, Portrayal, Presentation, Representation, Show, Showing, Spectacle), نواختن سازوغیره , تفریح کردن (Game, Recreate), تفریح (Diversion, Gust, Jaunt, Pastime, Recreation), ساززدن , سرگرمی مخصوص , زدن (Abaction, Amputate, Attain, Beat, Bop, Bruise, Clout, Cut, Haze, Imprint, Inject, Koran, Lam, Light, Lodge, Mallet, Nail, Poke, Pop, Shoot, Slap, Slat, Smite, Snip, Strike, Stroke, Whack), الت موسیقی نواختن , رل بازی کردن , روی صحنه ء نمایش ظاهرشدن , بازی کردن 2 (Foul, Move, Perform, Sport, Toy, Twiddle), بازی (Fun, Game, Sport). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

näytelmä (drama, show, spectacle), leikkiä (be at play). (various references)

   

French

  

représenter, pièce de théâtre (theatre play), passer, jouer (play about, play out, play over, ply), jeu. (various references)

   

Frisian

  

boartsje. (various references)

   

German

  

spielen (act, be on, doodle, enact, gamble, make a scene, make a song and dance, perform, play about, play around, playing, punt, show, simulate, to play, toy), Theaterstück (stage play), Spiel (clearance, deck, fixture, gamble, gambling, game, games, match, pack, playing, punt, set, slippage, tie), Schauspiel (drama, pageant, spectacle), stück (baggage, bar, bit, cake, cob, fragment, head, hunk, item, length, lump, part, passage, peace, piece, plot, portion, segment, share, shtick, slice, slips, snatch, snip, stick, stretch, track, wedge), abspielen (pass, play back, replay, sight-read). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

θεατρικό έργο (drama), παίζω (act, dally, fool around, frolic, game, horse around, monkey, rollick, sport, toy, trifle, twiddle). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

משחק (acting, game, pastime, plaything, sport), מקום לתמרון, מחזה (spectacle), לשחק (amuse, lark), להצטעצע (adorn oneself, toy with), לנגן, הצגה (performance, show, showing, staging). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

játszik (gamble, to act, to fiddle, to flutter, to go a bull, to perform, to personate, to play, to play high, to play to an empty house, to plunge, to portray, to sport, to star, to twiddle, to underplay, toy), játék (acting, backlash, clearance, game, performance, quiz, slack, sport, toy). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

permainan (game), pementasan (presentation, showing, staging), memainkan (manipulate), giliran (serve, seve, turn), dolanan. (various references)

   

Inuktitut

  

pinnguaqtuq (to play). (various references)

   

Irish

  

imirt, imir. (various references)

   

Italian

  

suonare (chime, clink, perform, play through, ring, ring the bell, ring up, sound, strike, tinge, tintinnabulation, wallop), giocare (bet, bet on, fool, gamble, gamble on, play a part, sport), dramma (dram, drama, hokum). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

遊戯 (game, sports), 芝居 (drama), 狂言 (drama, make-believe). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

ぎきょく (drama), たわむれ (caprice, flirtation, fun, jest, joke, sport), プレー (pray), プレイ (pray, prey), しばい (drama), きょうげん (drama, make-believe), ゆうぎ (fellowship, friendly relations, friendship, friendship's responsibilities, game, games, pastimes, sports), げき (appeal, chance or opportunity, chink, circular, drama, gap, interval, manifesto), てあそび (gambling, plaything), えんぎ (acting, adaptation, amplification, commentary, drama, expansion, omen, performance), えんげき. (various references)

   

Kongo

  

ku-sakana (to play). (various references)

   

Korean 

  

놀이. (various references)

   

Luganda

  

okuzannyako (to play). (various references)

   

Macedonian

  

igra (game, to play). (various references)

   

Manx

  

shiauilley (float), gleashaght (drift, locomotion, motion, movement), feddanagh (blow; boatswain, fluty, pipe player, tubular, vascular, vasiform, whistle-like; piper, whistler person; whistle, whistler; whistle), cloie (act, boil, bubble, charade, enact, event, extemporise, game, match, monkey, perform, performance, represent, skylark, sport), cayrn (bugle, hooter, horn, trumpet), bwoalley (assault, bang, bash, batter, beat, beat up, belabour, buffet, chime, clap, club, flap, hammer, hit, knock, mint, percussion, pound, pulsate, punch, rhythm, ring, rise of penis, scramble, shock, slam, slap, strike, thrash, thresh, throb, toll, wallop). (various references)

   

Maori

  

taakaro-hia (to play). (various references)

   

Maya

  

bul (to play cards), baaxal (to play, toy). (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

lureri (foul play, humbug, imposition). (various references)

   

Occitan

  

jogar. (various references)

   

Papago

  

mohnthi (to play cards), chichwi (to play). (various references)

   

Papiamen

  

komedia (comedy, theatre play), hunga (have sex, screw). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

ayplay.(various references)

   

Polish

  

sztuka teatralna (theatre play), grać, bawić się (enjoy oneself, have a good time). (various references)

   

Portuguese

  

jogar (bluff, cob, gamble, game, give over, punt, throw, toy, wager), tocar (accomplish, achieve, dab, drive on, feel, finger, get, honk, hoot, impel, jingle, lay hands on, reach, shoo, skirl, sound, to touch, touch), peça de teatro (drama), jogo (game, outfit, room, set, sport), brincar (coquet, fool, frisk, frolic, fun, gambol, have a good time, jape, jest, joke, josh, kid, lark, romp, toy, trifle). (various references)

   

Provencal

  

jogar (to play). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

pieså, piesã de teatru (sell out), undui (float, flutter, twist, wave), spectacol (a grand sight, entertainment, performance, presentment, scene, show, sight, spectacle), se juca (be, dally, fiddle, flirt, game, play upon, shy, twiddle with), juca (act, dance, enact, frolic, gamble, gambol, game, hazard, interpret, perform, present, produce, put on, sport, stake, trifle, wanton), joacã (game, recreation), interpreta (act, construe, explain, expound, interpret, paraphrase, read, render, represent, spell, take, translate), glumã (chaff, farce, frolic, fun, gag, game, jape, jest, joke, lark, prank, sport, trick, wheeze, wisecrack, wit, witticism), flirta (flirt, philander), dramã (catastrophe, drama, tragedy). (various references)

   

Romansch

  

giugar (to play). (various references)

   

Romany

  

bashalàva (to play an instrument), bashàlav (to play music). (various references)

   

Ruanda

  

gukina (to play). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

сыграть, играть (act, be at play, gamble, played, toy, trifled). (various references)

   

Samoan

  

e taalo (to play). (various references)

   

Scottish

  

cluich (a game, playing). (various references)

   

Sepedi

  

papadi (game, to play). (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

svirati (perform), odsvirati (pipe), odigrati (dance, enact, finish), mrtvi hod (backlash), komad (chunk, piece, shred, slip, snippet), igrati se (fool around, monkey, niggle, toy), igrati (act, dance, perform, personate, play at, take, twitch), igranje (dancing, personation, playing), igra (blind man's buff, dalliance, dance, dart, game, pas de deux, playgame), glumiti (act, do, playact), drama (drama), dejstvo (action, effect, influence). (various references)

   

Shona

  

-tamba (to play). (various references)

   

Sotho

  

bapala (to play). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

jugar (coquet, gamble, game, joy, move, play about, play around, play at, sport, toy), tocar (beat, beat out, blow, bow, contact, fall on, fall to, fall upon, feel, finger, ground, handle, knock, knock at the door, leave, perform, press, rap, ring, sound, to touch, touch, touch upon). (various references)

   

Swazi

  

kú-dlála (to play). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

spela (act, come, come out like, do, enact, flourish, flutter, gamble, game, go, perform, play act, punt, shoot), skådespel (drama, scene, show, sight, spectacle, theatre play), leka (dally, disport oneself, fiddle, lark, paddle, sport, toy, wanton), teaterpjäs (theatre play), spel (acting, clearance, crab, flutter, gamble, game, games, hand, personification, punt, set), pjäs (man, piece), gyckel (badinage, buffoonery, foolery, fun, jesting, joking, Josh, mockery, raillery, sport), agera (act). (various references)

   

Tagalog

  

maglalarô. (various references)

   

Thai

  

การทำผิดกฎหมาย (foul play), ละครเกี่ยวกับเรื่องในพระคัมภีร์ (mystery play), ละครยุคกลางเนื้อหาเกี่ยวกับพระคัมภีร์ (miracle play). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

piyes (piece, representation, spectacle, stage play), oynaşmak (dally, Frisk, play on, play upon, play with, play with each other, spoon), bahis yapmak (bet, place one's bet, stake), canlandırmak (accelerate, animate, arouse, brace, bring to life, brisk, brisk up, characterize, drum up, enact, enliven, exhilarate, fortify, freshen, furbish up, galvanize, ginger, ginger up, give a fresh impetus to, hearten, impersonate, innervate, inspire, inspirit, interpret, invigorate, jazz, jazz up, jog, key up, liven, liven up, pep up, perform, personalize, personate, personify, play the role of, portray, quicken, rake up, rally, recreate, refresh, regenerate, represent, revitalize, revive, revivify, rouse, rouse up, smarten, smarten up, spirit, spirit up, stimulate, tone up, touch up, uplift, vitalize, vivify, wake, waken), eğlence (amusement, bash, beano, blow out, carnival, conviviality, distraction, diversion, entertainment, festivity, fete, frolic, fun, gag, gaiety, high jinks, jamboree, jollification, jolliness, jollity, merriment, merrymaking, party, pastime, plaything, racket, recreation, recreational, rejoicing, relaxation, revel, saturnalia, setout, sport), gösteri (demo, demonstration, entertainment, exhibition, house, parade, performance, performing, program, programme, shew, show, showing), hareket (achievement, act, action, bearing, behavior, behaviour, conduct, demeanour, deportment, gesture, locomotion, motion, move, movement, setout, starting, step, stroke), hareket etmek (act, behave, budge, comport oneslf, deport oneself, get under weigh, move, move off, pull, pull away from the kerb, start, take off, waggle), kımıldamak (budge, move, stir, stir one's stumps), çalmak (abstract, adopt, bag, beat, beat out, blow, chime, cop, crib, defalcate, filch, finger, grind, grind out, heist, hijack, hoist, hook, hoot, incline, jangle, jingle, knelt, knock, knock off, lift, make off with, mooch, nobble, peal, pilfer, pinch, plunder, rap, render, ring, rustle, scrounge, sneak, snitch, sound, steal, strike, swipe, tend, thieve, toll, twang, verge, verge into, verge on, walk away with, walk off with, whip), numarası yapmak (act, affect, feign, make a show of, pretend, simulate), tutmak (abide by, add up to, affect, Bate, be, bespeak, bind, book, catch, charter, check, choke, choke back, choke down, choke off, claw hold of, clench, clutch, cog, cohere, come to, confine, constrain, contain, cost, cramp, engage, Favor, favour, figure out at, fish, gather, get hold of, grapple, grasp, grip, guard, hang onto, hire, hire on, hold, hold back, hold in, hold on, hold on to, hold up, inhibit, intercept, keep, keep back, keep down, keep in, keep to, occupy, play on, play upon, possess, redeem, remand, reserve, restrain, retain, save, seize, seize on, stanchion, stick, stick to, stifle, strangle, support, take, take up, tot up, total, uphold, withhold, work out at), oynama (acting, dancing, falsification, fluctuation, hop, move, moving, performing, playing, showing), oynamak (act, budge, dance, enact, Frisk, hop, interpret, jig, juggle, mess smth. about, monkey, move, perform, place one's bet, play around, play at, play on, play upon, play with, playact, portray, represent, shake a leg, toy, work), oyun (act, acting, canard, dance, device, frolic, game, hoax, performance, presentment, representation, spectacle, sport, stage play, trick, wheeze), rol almak (act a part, bear a part in, play a part, take part), tiyatro (Playhouse, theater, theatre), turneye çıkmak (circuit, go on tour, tour), kumar (gamble, gambling, game of hazard, gaming, hazard). (various references)

   

Turkmen 

  

oяnamak. (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

розвага (beguilement, disport, distraction, diversion, divertissement, do, entertainment, fun, pastime), гратися (dandle, frolic, sport, toy, wanton), грати (bar, bars, blow, grating, lattice, perform), гра (acting, game, performance), виконувати (administer, administrate, answer, carry out, comply, dispense, do, effect, effectuate, execute, fulfil, full, implement, obey, perform, put into effect, render, solve, tender), жартувати (badinage, banter, chaff, droll, fun, gag, jape, jest, joke, jolly, lark, lark around, monkey, trifle, yak), жарт (cantrip, jape, jest, jocosity, joke, panic, pleasantry, skit, trick, wheeze, witticism), азартна гра (gamble, gambling, gaming, plunging), п'єса (stage play). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

phạm vi hoạt động (arena, purview, stage), phạm vi xoay chuyển, sự lung linh, cách xử sự sự đánh bạc, chỗ jơ, chỗ long, chỗ xộc xệch, khe hở (opening, slit, windage), sự đùa giỡn (frolic), sự óng ánh (fulgentness), sự chơi, cách chơi, sự long, vở tuồng sự giỡn, sự nô đùa (frisk, frolic, sport), sự nhấp nhô (bob, popple), sự tung tăng sự hoạt động, sự vận dụng, sự vui chơi (amusement, entertainment, merriment), sự xộc xệch, sự xoay chuyển, trò cờ bạc kịch, trò chơi (toy, toying), trận đấu (combat, contest), vở kịch, sự lấp lánh (sparkle, twinkle). (various references)

   

Welsh

  

chwarae, canu (chant, crow, ring, sing). (various references)

   

Zulu

  

-dlala. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Top     

Ancestral Language Translations: Play

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Sumerian3100 BCE-2500 BCE

eemen. (various references)

Latin500 BCE-Modern

can, canam, canamus, cane, canebant, canendum, canens, canentem, canentes, canentium, canere, canerentque, caneret, canes, canet, canetis, cani, canis, canite, canitis, canitur, cano, canti, cantorum, cantu, cantum, cecinerunt, cecineruntque, cecinimus, cecinit, fabula, fabulam, fabulas, fabulis, hospita, hospitabit, hospitandi, hospitaremur, hospitatur, hospitatus, hospitem, hospites, lascivio, lod, lud, ludam, ludant, luddeo, luddeum, lude, ludebant, ludebat, ludens, ludent, ludentem, ludentes, ludentibus, ludentium, ludere, luderet, ludum, lusistis, lusit, modulamini. (various references)

Late Latin300-700

drama. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Bible Trace: Play

LanguageDateSourceJob Chapter 40, Verse 15
Greek (transliterated)250 BCSeptuagintAlla dh idou qhria para soi corton isa bousin esqiei
Latin405VulgateHuic montes herbas ferunt omnes bestiae agri ludent ibi
Middle English1395WyclifTo this hillis bern erbis; alle the bestis of the feld pleien there.
Jacobean English1611King JamesBehold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
Basic English1964OgdenHe takes the produce of the mountains, where all the beasts of the field are at play.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Matched Bible Translations: Play

LanguageJob Chapter 40, Verse 15
AlbanianShiko behemothin që e kam bërë njëlloj si ti; ai ha barin si kau.
Cebuano¶ Tan-awa karon, ang hippopotamus, nga akong gibuhat uban kanimo; Ingon siya sa vaca nga nagakaon sa balili.
CroatianA sada, dÓe promotri Behemota! Travom se hrani poput goveèeta,
Danishthi Foder til den bærer Bjergene, hvor Markens Vildt har Legeplads.
FinnishSille kantavat satonsa vuoret, joilla kaikki metsän eläimet leikitsevät.
GermanSiehe da, den Behemoth, den ich neben dir gemacht habe; er frißt Gras wie ein Ochse.
HungarianMert füvet teremnek számára a hegyek, és a mezõ minden vadja ott játszadozik.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hariPerhatikanlah Behemot, si binatang raksasa; seperti engkau, dia pun ciptaan-Ku juga. Rumput-rumput menjadi makanannya, seperti sapi dan lembu biasa.
Indonesian-Terjemahan LamaSegala bukit menjadi tempat makannya; di sana segala margasatwa bermain-main kelilingnya.
ItalianEcco, l'ippopotamo, che io ho creato al pari di te, mangia l'erba come il bue.
Maori¶ Na whakaaroa a Pehemoto, he mea hanga ngatahi korua naku; e kai ra i te tarutaru, ano he kau.
NorwegianFjellene bærer fôr for den, og alle ville dyr leker der.
RumanianUitq-te la ipopotamul, cqruia i-am dat viayq ca wi yie! El mqnkncq iarbq ca boul.
SpanishHe allí el Behemot, al cual yo hice junto contigo. Come hierba como el buey.
SwedishTy foder åt honom frambära bergen, där de vilda djuren alla hava sin lek.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Derivations & Misspellings: Play

Derivations

Words beginning with "play": playa, playabilities, playability, playable, playact, playacted, playacting, playactings, playacts, playas, playback, playbacks, playbill, playbills, playbook, playbooks, playboy, playboys, playdate, playdates, playday, playdays, playdown, playdowns, played, player, players, playfellow, playfellows, playfield, playfields, playful, playfully, playfulness, playfulnesses, playgirl, playgirls, playgoer, playgoers, playground, playgrounds, playhouse, playhouses, playing, playland, playlands, playless, playlet, playlets, playlike, playlist. (additional references)

Words ending with "play": airplay, byplay, counterplay, display, downplay, foreplay, gunplay, horseplay, interplay, misplay, nonplay, outplay, overplay, photoplay, redisplay, replay, screenplay, splay, swordplay, teleplay, underplay, wordplay. (additional references)

Words containing "play": airplays, ballplayer, ballplayers, byplays, cardplayer, cardplayers, counterplayer, counterplayers, counterplays, displayable, displayed, displaying, displays, downplayed, downplaying, downplays, foreplays, gunplays, horseplayer, horseplayers, horseplays, interplayed, interplaying, interplays, misplayed, misplaying, misplays, multiplayer, nonplaying, nonplays, outplayed, outplaying, outplays, overplayed, overplaying, overplays, photoplays, redisplayed, redisplaying, redisplays, replayed, replaying, replays, screenplays, splayed, splayfeet, splayfoot, splayfooted, splaying, splays, superplayer. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Play" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: klay, llya, lpac, palay, paley, pauy, pavy, Payg, payu, pazy, Pclab, peay, Pelay, Pelayo, pfla, Pflaz, phay, Pilai, Pillay, pjay, pla, plab, plad, plag, plagy, plai, plaig, plair, plak, plap, plaq, plau, plav, plaw, plax, playd, playe, playi, Playle, playn, pleai, plei, pleu, plev, pleye, pliy, Ploey, plra, plracy, plury, plye, plym, plyr, Polay, Prla, Psla, pylai, rplay. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Top     

Rhyming with "Play"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "play" (pronounced plā")
3p l ā"display, overplay, redisplay, replay, underplay.
2-l ā"allay, ballet, cabriolet, chalet, clay, delay, filet, fillet, flay, lay, lei, ley, ole, Palais, slay, sleigh, souffle, valet.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Top     

Anagrams: Play

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: paly.

Words within the letters "a-l-p-y"

-1 letter: alp, lap, lay, pal, pay, ply, pya, yap.

-2 letters: al, ay, la, pa, ya.

 Words containing the letters "a-l-p-y"
 

+1 letter: amply, apply, aptly, haply, layup, pally, palmy, palsy, patly, phyla, platy, playa, plays, splay, typal.

 

+2 letters: alphyl, byplay, damply, flappy, hyphal, jalopy, layups, packly, palely, paltry, parlay, parley, partly, payola, pearly, phylae, phylar, plaguy, plashy, platys, playas, played, player, psylla, pyrola, raptly, replay, splays.

 

+3 letters: adeptly, airplay, alphyls, amplify, apetaly, aphylly, apishly, aplenty, apology, byplays, calypso, campily, capably, cheaply, claypan, clypeal, cryptal, cypsela, display, ectypal, flypast, flytrap, gunplay, happily, inaptly, jaloppy, lamprey, maypole, misplay, nonplay, nymphal, outplay, paisley, palfrey, palmary, palmyra, panoply, papally, papyral, parlays, parleys, parsley, pawkily, payable, payably, payload, payolas, payroll, peartly, pedlary, penally, penalty, peytral, plaguey, plainly, platypi, playact, playboy, playday, players, playful, playing, playlet, playoff, playpen, plenary, pliably, pliancy, polynya, polyoma, prelacy, propyla, psaltry, psyllas, pteryla, ptyalin, pyralid, pyrolas, rapidly, reapply, replays, sappily, shapely, sharply, slipway, soapily, spangly, sparely, sparkly, splashy, splayed, sprawly, typable, typical, unaptly, vapidly, waspily.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Top     



INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern 		5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Images: Digital Art 		9. Sounds
10. Quotations: Familiar
11. Quotations: Historic
12. Quotations: Fiction 		13. Quotations: Non-fiction
14. Quotations: Spoken
15. Quotations: Speeches
16. Usage Frequency 		17. Names: Company Usage
18. Expressions
19. Expressions: Internet
20. Translations: Modern 		21. Translations: Ancient
22. Bible Trace
23. Abbreviations
24. Acronyms 		25. Derivations
26. Rhymes
27. Anagrams
28. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.