play – English noun declension

English noun forms of play

Noun: play
Singularplay
Pluralplays

Sample Sentences

  • Children learn through play.
  • She was fond of all boys' plays, and greatly preferred cricket […] to dolls […] [1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:]
  • 1964, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
  • You know, when I was around 7-11 years old, my favorite play would be "boys." One of us, Bridget, Maryellen, or I, would say "Let's play boys." We all had boy names, set up the pretend surroundings, and acted like boys.
  • This kind of play helps the young lion cubs develop their hunting skills.
  • Play was very slow in the first half.
  • After the rain break, play resumed at 3 o'clock.
  • The game was abandoned after 20 minutes' play
  • In potting the yellow ball, he's knocked the green into play.
  • When a chess piece is captured, it is removed from play.
  • That option has been removed from play.
  • Sure enough, the text also teases the return of the weapon in an upcoming dungeon. Honestly, we're so power crept these days it will probably need a buff to see play. [2024 September 9, Tim Clark, “[Destiny 2 is abandoning big annual expansions and linear campaigns in favour of more frequent releases that are 'mysterious, weird, and not afraid to try new things'] Hot take: Tim Clark”, in PC Gamer, Bath, Somerset: Future plc, archived from the original on 09 Sep 2024:]
  • His play has improved a lot this season.
  • That was a great play by the Mudchester Rovers forward.
  • AWARD is better than either WARED or WADER. However, there's an even better play! If you have looked at the two-to-make-three letter list, you may have noticed the word AWA. [2009, Joe Edley, John Williams, Everything Scrabble: Third Edition, page 85:]
  • This book contains all of Shakespeare's plays.
  • That books and plays cannot be understood without knowledge of the historical circumstances and social conflicts of the time was known, long before Marx, to many French and other historians, some of whom were conservative in politics. [1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 364:]
  • We saw a two-act play in the theatre.
  • My kids are acting in the school play this Christmas.
  • ABC Widgets makes a play in the bicycle market with its bid to take over Acme Sprockets.
  • Turpin signals the Metric Party's long-term play for housing reform
  • the play of light and shadow across the boy's face
  • the sum of mental and physical phenomena known by the conventional name “person” or “individual” is not at all the mere play of blind chance. [1956, Nyanatiloka Mahåthera, Fundamentals of Buddhism Four Lectures:]
  • give play to your imagination
  • The negro came up and Bond allowed his arms to be tied behind his back. They were good knots. There was no play in them. They hurt. [1954, Ian Fleming, “'Good Night To You Both'”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 223:]
  • No wonder the fanbelt is slipping: there’s too much play in it.
  • Too much play in a steering wheel may be dangerous.
  • petplay
  • Sexy LF novice seeks seasoned top to spice up my play life. Teach me a lesson I won't forget. [1990 December 9, “Butch In The Streets, Bottom Between The Sheets (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 17:]
  • The rarity of male domination in fantasy play is readily explained. [1996, Sabrina P Ramet, Gender reversals and gender cultures:]
  • Palm Springs M seeks sane F 4 safe bdsm play [1996, "toptigger", (on Internet newsgroup alt.personals.spanking.punishment)]
  • There were none of the usual restrictions on public nudity or sexual interaction in the club environment. Still, the night was young, and as he'd made his way to the bar to order Mistress Ramona a gin and tonic, he'd seen little in the way of play. [2013, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Best Bondage Erotica 2014:]
  • This type of play allows some people to relax and enjoy being given pleasure without having to think about giving pleasure back at the same time. [2014, Jiri T. Servant, Facts About Bondage - Bondage Guide For Beginners:]
  • That video of my cat falling off the piano has had ten thousand plays.
  • The most-streamed artist of the year was British singer Ed Sheeran, who amassed 860 million plays with hits like “I See Fire.” [2014 December 3, Victor Luckerson, “These Were Spotify's Most-Streamed Songs This Year”, in Time, archived from the original on 02 Jun 2017:]
  • Their single got a play on the radio.
  • The song got a lot of play in the clubs.
  • press play
  • play on words
  • The name Wiktionary is a play on the words wiki and dictionary.
  • handplay, swordplay

Etymology

1. Etymology tree
2. Proto-West Germanic *plehan
3. Old English pleġan
4. Proto-West Germanic *plegō
5. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
6. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
7. Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
8. Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
9. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti
10. Proto-Germanic *-ōną
11. Proto-West Germanic *-ōn
12. Proto-West Germanic *plegōn
13. Old English plegian
14. Middle English pleyen
15. Proto-West Germanic *plegō
16. Old English plega
17. Middle English pleye
18. English play
19. From Middle English pleyen (verb) and Middle English pleye (noun), from Old English plegian and plegan, plagian (“to play, exercise, etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *plehan (“to care about, be concerned with”) and Proto-West Germanic *plegōn (“to engage, move”), of uncertain origin.
20. cognates and related terms
21. Cognate with Scots play (“to act or move briskly, cause to move, stir”), Saterland Frisian pleegje (“to look after, care for, maintain”), West Frisian pleegje, pliigje (“to commit, perform, bedrive”), Middle Dutch pleyen ("to dance, leap for joy, rejoice, be glad"; compare Modern Dutch pleien (“to play a particular children's game”)), Dutch plegen (“to commit, bedrive, practice”), German pflegen (“to care for, be concerned with, attend to, tend”). Related also to Old English plēon (“to risk, endanger”). More at plight, pledge.
22. The noun is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, plega, plæġa (“play, quick motion, movement, exercise; (athletic) sport, game; festivity, drama; battle; gear for games, an implement for a game; clapping with the hands, applause”), deverbative of plegian (“to play”); see above. See: Middle English Nouns 'pleye', Old English Nouns 'plegian', Middle English Nouns 'pleye'.

Verbs referencing "play"

English Nouns placard.