Word.ws English Dictionary

plays on words

plays on words is the plural of play on words.

Meaning of play on words

Noun

play on words (plural plays on words)

  1. (idiomatic) A pun, or similar humorous use of language such as a double entendre.
    • Mr. Steevens alſo, influenced we ſuppoſe by the authority of Dr. Farmer, ſeems by the way in which he regulates the line in his new edition, to think that Shakſpeare here meaned no more than a play on words.1794, Mr. Malone's Edition of Shakſpeare's Works, in The Monthly Review Or Literary Journal Enlarged [2nd Series], Volume 13, R. Griffiths, page 265
    Synonyms:
    paronomasia

Questions about plays on words

What is plays on words the plural of?
Plays on words is the plural of play on words.

Words near plays on words in the dictionary

  1. plays Old Gooseberry
  2. plays Old Harry
  3. plays Old Harry with
  4. plays on
  5. plays on someone's heartstrings
  6. plays on words
  7. plays one against another
  8. plays one's cards right
  9. plays one's cards well
  10. plays one's guts out
  11. plays one's hand right

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plays on words (page history and authors); play on words (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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