Word.ws English Dictionary

open play

open play noun: the period of play outside set pieces; the phase where possession can change by passing and tackling.

Noun

open play (plural open plays)

  1. (especially) The period of play outside set pieces; the phase where possession can change by passing and tackling.
    • We've struggled to score goals in open play since early March which contributed to our promotion hopes falling away last season.2010 November 2, Phil Merrick, Bleed White: The fall and rise of Leeds United... to be continued, AuthorHouse, →ISBN
    • A dropped goal is a kick at goal in open play and can be taken from anywhere on the pitch and by any player within the team.2015 August 27, Gavin Hickie, Eilidh Donaldson, Rugby Revealed: Reaching Your Rugby Potential, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 222

Forms of open play

pluralopen plays

Questions about open play

What does open play mean?
Open play means the period of play outside set pieces; the phase where possession can change by passing and tackling.
What part of speech is open play?
Open play is a noun.
What is the plural of open play?
The plural of open play is open plays.

Words near open play in the dictionary

  1. open order
  2. open out
  3. open outcry
  4. open outsourcing
  5. open Pandora's box
  6. open play
  7. open position
  8. open positions
  9. open prison
  10. open prisons
  11. open problem

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: open play (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “open play.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/open_play. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.