Library / English Dictionary

PLAYING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The action of taking part in a game or sport or other recreation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("playing" is a kind of...):

action (something done (usually as opposed to something said))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "playing"):

bowling (the playing of a game of tenpins or duckpins etc)

catching ((baseball) playing the position of catcher on a baseball team)

golfing (playing golf)

pitching ((baseball) playing the position of pitcher on a baseball team)

Derivation:

play (engage in an activity as if it were a game rather than take it seriously)

play (participate in games or sport)

play (contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle)

play (engage in recreational activities rather than work; occupy oneself in a diversion)

play (be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of playing a musical instrument

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("playing" is a kind of...):

musical performance (the act of performing music)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "playing"):

bowing (managing the bow in playing a stringed instrument)

piping (playing a pipe or the bagpipes)

stopping (the kind of playing that involves pressing the fingers on the strings of a stringed instrument to control the pitch)

transposition ((music) playing in a different key from the key intended; moving the pitch of a piece of music upwards or downwards)

Derivation:

play (replay (as a melody))

play (play on an instrument)

play (perform music on (a musical instrument))

Sense 3

Meaning:

The performance of a part or role in a drama

Synonyms:

acting; performing; playacting; playing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("playing" is a kind of...):

performing arts (arts or skills that require public performance)

activity (any specific behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "playing"):

roleplaying (acting a particular role (as in psychotherapy))

reenactment (performing a role in an event that occurred at an earlier time)

heroics (ostentatious or vainglorious or extravagant or melodramatic conduct)

hamming; overacting (poor acting by a ham actor)

skit (a short theatrical episode)

business; byplay; stage business (incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect)

dumb show; mime; pantomime (a performance using gestures and body movements without words)

method; method acting (an acting technique introduced by Stanislavsky in which the actor recalls emotions or reactions from his or her own life and uses them to identify with the character being portrayed)

impersonation; personation (imitating the mannerisms of another person)

characterization; enactment; personation; portrayal (acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture)

Holonyms ("playing" is a part of...):

performance (the act of presenting a play or a piece of music or other entertainment)

Derivation:

play (play a role or part)

play (perform on a stage or theater)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

-ing form of the verb play

Credits

 Context examples: 

Today, however, they were not playing.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Isabella, to be sure, was no very quick observer; yet if Harriet had not been equal to playing with the children, it would not have escaped her.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

It was late on a Monday night that they stopped playing.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But I want to find out about them, and who they are, and what their object was in playing this prank—if it was a prank—upon me.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She enjoyed singing and playing to him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"We are playing nargerie," explained Kitty.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“I don’t know whether you are playing a game with us, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said he.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Such deletions have been implicated as playing a significant role in several diseases including leukemias, lymphomas and myelomas.

(Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Deletion, NCI Thesaurus)

The stables were reached, and there in the doorway, lay Collie, a half-dozen pudgy puppies playing about her in the sun.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Tendinitis of the elbow is a sports injury, often from playing tennis or golf.

(Elbow Injuries and Disorders, NIH)