Word.ws English Dictionary

plays the game

plays the game is the third-person singular simple present indicative of play the game.

Meaning of play the game

Verb

play the game (third-person singular simple present plays the game, present participle playing the game, simple past and past participle played the game)

  1. To behave fairly; to abide by the rules.
    • And it's not for the sake of a ribboned coat, / Or the selfish hope of a season's fame, / But his captain's hand on his shoulder smote / "Play up! play up! and play the game!"1892, Henry Newbolt, Vitaï Lampada

Questions about plays the game

What is plays the game the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Plays the game is the third-person singular simple present indicative of play the game.

Words near plays the game in the dictionary

  1. plays the deuce with
  2. plays the devil with
  3. plays the dickens with
  4. plays the field
  5. plays the fool
  6. plays the game
  7. plays the giddy goat
  8. plays the giddy ox
  9. plays the hand one is dealt
  10. plays the man
  11. plays the man and not the ball

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plays the game (page history and authors); play the game (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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