Word.ws English Dictionary

playing both sides against the middle

playing both sides against the middle is the present participle and gerund of play both sides against the middle.

Meaning of play both sides against the middle

Verb

play both sides against the middle (third-person singular simple present plays both sides against the middle, present participle playing both sides against the middle, simple past and past participle played both sides against the middle)

  1. (idiomatic) To manipulate opponents or competitors in a manner which benefits the manipulator.
    • Some of the lesser Democrats, especially in the remoter reaches of the Bible country, have the same yearning, but they are not as numerous as the Republicans, all of whom have been greatly embarrassed by Dr. Hoover's laborious efforts to play both sides against the middle.1932, George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, The American Mercury, page 383

Questions about playing both sides against the middle

What is playing both sides against the middle the present participle and gerund of?
Playing both sides against the middle is the present participle and gerund of play both sides against the middle.

Words near playing both sides against the middle in the dictionary

  1. playing away
  2. playing back
  3. playing ball
  4. playing big
  5. playing booty
  6. playing both sides against the middle
  7. playing by ear
  8. playing by the rules
  9. playing card
  10. playing cards
  11. playing cheat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: playing both sides against the middle (page history and authors); play both sides against the middle (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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