How to Use play to in a Sentence

play to

phrasal verb
Definition of play tonext
  • Rae played to the top’s warmer tones with the rest of her look.
    — Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 9 Aug. 2024
  • The Penguin, makes a play to seize the reins of the crime world in Gotham.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 27 July 2024
  • The teams played to five innings, with the score tied 14-all in the fifth.
    — Kylie Volavongsa, Kansas City Star, 7 June 2024
  • Big play to keep the Saints offense on the field late in the half.
    — Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 17 Oct. 2024
  • Mahomes, 28, used the move as a trick play to throw Travis the football.
    — Marina Watts, Peoplemag, 18 Aug. 2024
  • Games are played to 21 with 1-point and 2-point baskets.
    — Doug Feinberg, The Mercury News, 5 June 2024
  • The move is premised on the campaign's goal of playing to the strengths of Biden and Harris.
    — Julia Johnson, Washington Examiner, 1 Aug. 2023
  • Gagliano then threw to Drue Gagliano for the two-point play to cut Central’s lead to 21-18.
    — Preps, al, 15 Sep. 2023
  • Nobody else stepped forward to make enough plays to push the Cougars over the top.
    — Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2024
  • Looks like Bo Nix is going to have to make some plays to win this one.
    — Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 8 Sep. 2024
  • But back then, it was considered a smart play to keep the kids in line.
    — Quanta Magazine, 15 Feb. 2024
  • For tank killers, playing to the strengths of anti-tank weapons is the easier of the two.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 5 Sep. 2023
  • Nine of their last 15 games are on the road, which could play to their curious strength.
    — Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2024
  • The Lions were able to go 75 yards in 13 plays to draw within a field goal with less than a minute to go.
    — Steve Almasy, CNN, 28 Jan. 2024
  • Hutchinson scored a 1-yard run on the next play to send it to a second overtime.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Sep. 2023
  • Spangler then threw out Richards in a bang-bang play to first baseman Sean Stafford to keep the score tied.
    — Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 25 May 2024
  • There were plenty of plays to be made, and need to be made, behind the protection the Bears had.
    — Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2024
  • Trans women who do try to make it by playing to the mainstream are shut out, too.
    — Frankie De La Cretaz, Them, 10 Oct. 2024
  • Panitch agrees this debate does not play to Trump’s strengths.
    — Amy Delaura, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 27 June 2024
  • The Lions needed just one play to answer with a touchdown to lead by 15.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC News, 1 Oct. 2024
  • With Mills down a point with 10 seconds left, coach Justin Matsu drew up a play to get Tang open on a back cut.
    — Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 24 Feb. 2024
  • Bryant didn’t want to just play to play, but instead give everybody there a treat.
    — Anthony Gharib, USA TODAY, 12 July 2023
  • Stirring dissent in this way is a classic Putin play to raise doubts.
    — Tara Sonenshine, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Riley Moss just made a fantastic play to break up a pass on third down.
    — Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2024
  • But after that, not playing to the best of my abilities.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2024
  • After the dancers finished, a trumpeter started playing to the beat of the music.
    — Elise Taylor, Vogue, 18 Jan. 2024
  • The listing suggests adding a stage to host concerts and plays to liven up the venue during the movie season.
    — Jordan Green, Detroit Free Press, 12 June 2024
  • The sides played to a wild 3-3 draw at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night.
    — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 21 Apr. 2024
  • Instead of throwing all her big moves Friday, Sunny played to the packed crowd.
    — Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
  • Allen would fumble on the next play to end the game, and Gillette Stadium went ballistic.
    — Scott Thompson, Fox News, 22 Oct. 2023

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

Last Updated: