play the field
play the field verb: to cut one's losses by betting on every racehorse other than the crowd favorite.
Verb
play the field (third-person singular simple present plays the field, present participle playing the field, simple past and past participle played the field)
- To cut one's losses by betting on every racehorse other than the crowd favorite.
- To have numerous romantic partners, without or before committing exclusively to one.
- He says I'm the only one, but my friends say he's playing the field.
- I know you got charm and appeal / You always play the field / I'm crazy to think you're all mine1980, Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers, “Upside Down”, in Diana, performed by Diana Ross
Forms of play the field
| third-person singular present | plays the field |
|---|---|
| present participle | playing the field |
| past participle | played the field |
| past | played the field |
Questions about play the field
- What does play the field mean?
- Play the field means to cut one's losses by betting on every racehorse other than the crowd favorite.
- What part of speech is play the field?
- Play the field is a verb.
- What is the past tense of play the field?
- The past tense of play the field is played the field.
Words near play the field in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: play the field (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-play the field.ogg.
Cite this entry: “play the field.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/play_the_field. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.