How to Use play with in a Sentence

play with

phrasal verb
  • And then the two girls are playing with a toy train on the side of that pond.
    Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 10 Jan. 2024
  • Tupac chose the wrong game to play and the wrong niggas to play with.
    Vulture, 3 Oct. 2023
  • That’s the role for me in my life that music plays with grief now.
    Dina Gachman Daniel Arnold, New York Times, 25 May 2024
  • Aaron Hunter was shot in the head at 13 while playing with friends.
    Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 18 Apr. 2024
  • It's meant to be a place to sit, a play spot kids can jump on and building blocks for the kids to play with.
    Jessica Hartshorn, Good Housekeeping, 31 Aug. 2023
  • The game can be played with anywhere from two to 20 players.
    Jessica Comstock, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Jan. 2024
  • Do all the stories play with the conventions of genre in this way?
    Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
  • Stafford looks as if he’s been playing with them for years.
    Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2023
  • Profile: Blaze loves to play with toys and likes to chase a ball around the yard as well as play tug of war.
    Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Oct. 2023
  • This was played with élan over dissonant swirling in the strings.
    Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Nov. 2023
  • Some staff members return to the ward after work to play with the twins.
    Hajar Harb, Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Canales is expected to call the plays with the Panthers, too.
    Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 26 Jan. 2024
  • The Thomases brought along their dog, Petey, who played with the Sokols’ dog, Bodie.
    Steve Eder, New York Times, 9 July 2023
  • What is your human’s worst habit? Doesn’t play with me enough.
    Christian Allaire, Vogue, 14 Aug. 2024
  • Finishing the play with style points added: The Schwartz way in a nutshell.
    Ashley Bastock, cleveland, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Ben also cues up the site to watch his doppel play with his kid.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 15 Aug. 2024
  • As soon as the kids got up my son started playing with it.
    Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 25 Dec. 2023
  • The surgeon has 20 seconds to play with to be able to save someone's life.
    Pierre Thomas, ABC News, 1 Dec. 2023
  • Girls could run races and grow up to be doctors; boys could play with dolls and grow up to push a stroller.
    James Poniewozik, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2024
  • Love plays with Ciara and one of her favorite toys, a plushy train.
    Christian Allaire, Vogue, 14 Aug. 2024
  • There are plenty of noisy jump scares Many of the frights play with the idea of sound and silence, since the aliens hunt based on noise.
    Benjamin Vanhoose, Peoplemag, 28 June 2024
  • The guard dove for loose balls, playing with the fire of an NCAA tournament game.
    Detroit Free Press, 8 July 2023
  • The scenes play with genre cues, but Jones makes the gut-check anxiety real.
    Bonnie Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2023
  • The doll helped to correct decades of Black girls and women not having toys to play with that looked like them.
    Lynsey Eidell, Peoplemag, 19 June 2024
  • Where to play No matter the trip, play with nature while in Montauk.
    Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Aug. 2024
  • Last year, the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final came as the team played with house money.
    Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 2 June 2024
  • Even those who play with a one-hander have their regrets.
    Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2023
  • The latter two were playing with Louis Oosthuizen in the group ahead of Garcia.
    David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2024
  • Everyone to me was playing with Prince and that was the renegade brand.
    Jesse Scott, Travel + Leisure, 9 Sep. 2024
  • The members play with relatable themes drawn from everyday life that feel like canon events.
    Kristine Kwak, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'play with.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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