playing
 玩
 Play v. i. [imp. & p. p. Played p. pr. & vb. n. Playing.]
 1. To engage in sport or lively recreation; to exercise for the sake of amusement; to frolic; to spot.
    As Cannace was playing in her walk.   --Chaucer.
 The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,
 Had he thy reason, would he skip and play!   --Pope.
 And some, the darlings of their Lord,
 Play smiling with the flame and sword.   --Keble.
 2. To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.
    =\“Nay,” quod this monk, “I have no lust to pleye.”\=   --Chaucer.
    Men are apt to play with their healths.   --Sir W. Temple.
 3. To contend, or take part, in a game; as, to play ball; hence, to gamble; as, he played for heavy stakes.
 4. To perform on an instrument of music; as, to play on a flute.
    One that . . . can play well on an instrument.   --Ezek. xxxiii. 32.
    Play, my friend, and charm the charmer.   --Granville.
 5. To act; to behave; to practice deception.
    His mother played false with a smith.   --Shak.
 6. To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate; to act; as, the fountain plays.
    The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play.   --Cheyne.
 7. To move gayly; to wanton; to disport.
    Even as the waving sedges play with wind.   --Shak.
 The setting sun
 Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets.   --Addison.
 All fame is foreign but of true desert,
 Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart.   --Pope.
 8. To act on the stage; to personate a character.
    A lord will hear your play to-night.   --Shak.
    Courts are theaters where some men play.   --Donne.
 To play into a person's hands, to act, or to manage matters, to his advantage or benefit.
 To play off, to affect; to feign; to practice artifice.
 To play upon. (a) To make sport of; to deceive.
 Art thou alive?
 Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight.   --Shak.
 (b) To use in a droll manner; to give a droll expression or application to; as, to play upon words.
 Play·ing, a. & vb. n. of Play.
 Playing cards. See under Card.
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 playing
      n 1: the act of playing a musical instrument
      2: the action of taking part in a game or sport or other
         recreation
      3: the performance of a part or role in a drama [syn: acting,
          playacting, performing]