Synonyms 74
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14. contend, compete, vie, rival, contest; oppose, challenge, pit oneself against, play against, take on, face, confront, meet; All Fig. battle, join battle with, set to, engage, encounter, struggle, tussle, scuffle, clash.
15. employ, use, make use of, utilize, apply; wield, ply, operate, work; handle, manipulate, put to use or good use.
16. gamble, bet, wager, stake, try one's luck or fortune, make a bet, lay a wager or bet, Brit, punt, Inf. shoot craps, Inf. play the ponies, Brit. Inf. birl, Brit. SI. gaff; speculate, venture, play the market, Inf. plunge, Inf. take a flier, Inf. take a leap or shot in the dark.
17. do, perform, execute, carry out, accomplish, discharge, fulfill, consummate; cause, effect, effectuate, bring about, make happen.
18. sport, disport, frolic, frisk, gambol, have fun or a good time or a good old time; dance about, jump about, romp, rollick; cavort, caper, cut capers, curvet; revel, carouse, wassail, roister, whoop it up, Inf. make whoopee.
19. clown, clown around, play the clown; horse around, fool around, kid around, Inf. cut up; joke, jest, fool, tease, Inf. josh, Inf. kid, Inf. put [s.o.] on, Inf. pull [s.o.'s] leg; banter, chaff, make merry with.
20. dally, trifle, toy, make light with; potter, putter, smatter, tinker, fiddle, Inf. fool with.
21. play at pretend, feign, make believe; affect, simulate, fake, sham, give the appearance of, SI. make like; assume, put on, Inf. do for effect.
22. play down belittle, disparage, decry, deprecate, demean, detract, derogate, Inf. talk or cry down; minimize, slight, underrate, undervalue, beggar, misprize, extenuate, underestimate, underreckon, think little or nothing of, set no store by, fail to count on; deempha-size, underplay, make light of.
23.
played out a. weary, tired, tired out, Inf dog-tired, dead-tired, SI. dead, dead on one's feet; overtired, done in, all in, ready to drop; weary, fatigued, worn out, fagged, fagged out.
b. hackneyed, trite, overused, overemployed, overworked; banal, set, stock, familiar, Inf. bromidic, SI. old hat; stale, dull, flat, vapid, insipid, jejune, warmed-over; moldy, musty, moth-eaten, timeworn, shopworn, c. expended, used up, finished, finished up, gone, all gone, no more, SI. eighty-sixed.
24.
play for time stall, stall for time; temporize, make or gain time, Inf. drag one's feet; procrastinate, hesitate, hang, hang back or fire; filibuster.
25.
play it by ear improvise, extemporize, ad lib, Inf. fake it, SI. wing it; rise to the occasion, ride with the waves, roll with the punches.
26.
play on or
upon exploit, take advantage or unfair advantage of, abuse, misuse, walk all over [s.o.], take [s.o.] for all he's worth; impose on, trade on.
27.
play out a. finish, complete, carry through, go or follow through with; settle, resolve, terminate, end, bring to an end; conclude, close, wind up, clinch, seal, Inf. wrap up.
b. exhaust, consume, use up; expend, spend, dissipate, SI. blow; waste, squander, fritter away, fool away, run through.
28.
play the game Informal,
a. go along with, conform, follow the crowd, do as others do; keep in step, toe the mark, stay in line, follow the rules, keep one's nose clean; yield, acquiesce, defer, compromise, give in; toady, Inf. bootlick, truckle,
b. play fair, be a good sport, play by the rules, Inf. be up front.
29.
play up a. emphasize, stress, lay stress or emphasis on, accent, punctuate; underline, underscore, italicize, point up, call attention to, mark, bring home, press home; feature, highlight, spotlight, give prominence to, bring to the fore.
b. dramatize, overemphasize, overstress, overaccentuate, make a mountain out of a molehill, make a big thing out of nothing, make much ado about nothing, make a federal case of, blow out of proportion; exaggerate, hyperbolize, overstate, c. magnify, amplify, aggrandize, build up, puff up.
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In his book 'The Insects', naturalist Url N. Lanham reports that the aphid reproductive cycle is so rapid that the females are born pregnant. .. More >>
