Word.ws English Dictionary

plays both sides against the middle

plays both sides against the middle is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 plays both sides against the middle

What is plays both sides against the middle the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Plays both sides against the middle is the third-person singular simple present indicative of play both sides against the middle.

Words near plays both sides against the middle in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plays 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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