play /plei/ I. vi. & vt. 1. 玩耍，游戏；演奏；参加比赛：Can you come out and play with me?你可以和我去玩耍吗? Don’t play with fire. 不要玩火。He played the piano(the violin) beautifully.他钢琴弹（小提琴拉）得很漂亮。The players all played in the world game. 这些运动员都参加过世界大赛。Will you play us a Waltz, please? (= Will you play a Waltz for us, please?)请给我们奏一首华尔兹舞曲好吗? He played us a trick. 他跟我们耍了个花招。Do you like to play basketball?你喜欢打篮球吗? 2. 扮演，演出：play Hamlet 饰哈姆雷特； play one’s part well 表演得很好 3. 用于短语动词 play at（孩子做游戏）假装：As kids we used to play at being doctors and nurses.小时候我们经常模拟大夫和护士。play back 回放录音或录像：When I played back our conversation I realised I hadn’t made myself clear.我回头听我们的对话录音时我意识到自己没有说清楚。play down 降低…的重要性或严重性：Military spokesmen tried to play down the seriousness of the incident.军方发言人企图削弱事件的严重性。play havoc with 导致混乱或麻烦：The delay played (= caused) havoc with their travel arrangements. 拖延导致了他们旅行安排的很多麻烦。 play (it) safe 小心，不冒险：To play safe, I’d allow an extra ten minutes, just in case.完全起见，我再放宽十分钟预防万一。play off 决胜：The final 16 teams will play off on Sunday.最后由16个队在星期日决定胜负。play off against …让互相竞争：If you get quotes from two different companies you can sometimes play them off against each other.如果你得到两个不同公司的报价，有时候你可以让他们相互竞价。play on 继续比赛或演奏：“Play on！”the referee shouted.“继续比赛！”裁判喊着。play out 让自生自灭；打完比赛：The best thing to do is stand back and let the crisis play itself out. 最好的办法是不予干预，让危机自行消失。They refused to play out the last three minutes after the floodlights failed. 照明灯灭了后他们拒绝打完最后三分钟的比赛。play second fiddle to…做第二提琴手，不如…：I’m not prepared to play second fiddle to Christina any more - I’m looking for another job!我再也不甘愿低于克里斯蒂娜，我正另寻岗位。play up 强调；引起疼痛；表现不佳：It’s said that he plays up his working-class background in order to broaden his appeal.据说他强调他的工人阶级背景是为了拓宽他的吸引力。My stomach was playing up after all that fatty food. 吃完那些高脂食品后我的胃开始疼了起来。My car’s been playing up again.我的车又不听话了。play with fire 玩火：I’m warning you that if you get mixed up with him, you’re playing with fire 我警告你，如果你跟他厮混那就是在玩火。‖II. n. 1.［c］剧本，戏曲，比赛的动作，比赛的策略: Let’s go to the play.我们去看戏吧。This is a fine passing play. 这是一个极佳的过人动作。2.［u］游戏；娱乐玩耍；竞赛：His life is all work and no play.他的生活只有工作没有娱乐。Rain stopped play yesterday.昨天因下雨未能比赛。3.用于短语come into play开始活动, 开始起作用：It’s time for the first part of our plan to come into play. 是实行我们计划第一部份的时候了。A lot of different factors came into play in making this decision. 作这项决定时考虑了很多不同因素。
player /ˈpleiə/ n. ［c］1. (球类)运动员，选手，比赛者；参加游戏的人：a star player 明星运动员；a seeded player 种子选手；to cheer players为运动员呐喊助威；a professional football (tennis) player 职业足球（网球）运动员 2. 演员，演奏者：assign players to parts 给演员分配角色；a stage player舞台演员
