play ball . begin play in a ball game开始赛球

When the umpire calls“play ball，”the game begins．裁判一叫“开始比赛，”球赛就开始了。

play ball .join in an effort； cooperate 合作

They said if we would play ball with them， this could be brought off with great success．他们说如果我们注意与他们合作，这件事情就能出色地完成。

We need the Committee's approval for this scheme． Do you think they'll play ball with us? 我们这项计划需要委员会批准。你认为他们会跟我们合作吗?

play by ear . play a musical instrument by remembering the tune凭听觉记忆演奏

She plays the piano entirely by ear．她不用乐谱，完全凭听觉记忆演奏钢琴。

play by ear . decide what to do as one goes along酌情而定

We don't know what may crop up，so you'll have to play it by ear．我们不知道会出现什么情况，因此你得见机行事。

play cat and mouse . tease or fool by pretending to let somebody go free and then catching him again欲擒故纵

The policeman decided to play cat and mouse when he saw the woman steal the dress in the store．警察发觉那女人在商店偷衣服时，他欲擒故纵，暂时先不抓她。

play down . make something  less important贬低；缩小

He gave all the credit to the others and played down his own part in the work．他把功劳都归于别人，而对自己的作用则轻描淡写，一带而过。

The doctors thought it necessary to play down the serious nature of her illness．医生认为把她的严重病情说得轻一些是必要的。

The newspaper reports played down the actor's unattractive past．新闻报道对于该演员不光彩的过去很少提到。

play down to . deliberately talk to or behave towards so that somebody doesn't feel inferior in order to win support or favor故意摆出平易近人的样子

Politicians have to learn to play down to the voters. 政治家必须学会对选民放低身价。

Somehow Harriet always tried to play herself down to her friends. 不知为何，哈丽特总是竭力使在朋友们中间显得无足轻重似的。

play fair . do what is right to others；act in a fair and truthful way公平；举止正派

He is a hardnosed man， but you can be sure that he'll play fair with you．他虽是一个顽固的人，但是你放心，他一定会公平对待你的。

It wouldn't be playing fair if you were to break your promise at the last minute．你如果在最后关头失信的话，那就不近情理了。

play false cheat；deceive欺骗

Don't try to play me false； I can see you don't mean what you said．别想骗我，我看得出来你讲的跟你想的不是一回事。

Good faith was not in him；he played anyone false who trusted him．他一点也不老实，专门欺骗那些信任他的人。

play fast and loose . repeatedly change one's attitude反复无常

He played fast and loose with several women's affections．他玩弄了好几位女士的感情。

No one can place any reliance on a person who plays fast and loose．没有人能够信赖反复无常的人。

He should not play fast and loose with the company's good name．他不应该拿公司的好名声当儿戏。

play jokes on . play tricks on . make somebody the victim of a trick or joke；make fun of和…开玩笑

Mark Twain liked very much to tell funny stories and he also liked to play jokes on his friends．马克·吐温很喜欢讲有趣的故事，他也喜欢开朋友的玩笑。

Though he knew they were playing tricks on him， he pretended not to notice it ．他心里明白他们是在捉弄他，但他佯装不知。

play off . put somebody in competition with somebody else，so to benefit from it在…之间挑拨以从中获利

She was always playing her two brothers off against each other．她总是在她两个兄弟之间挑起争端。

The practice of playing off one great power against another is not new．挑拨一个强国对抗另一个强国并不是什么新的手法。

play off . play or complete the playing of （an interrupted or delayed match）； break（a tie） by playing once more举行或完成（中断了的比赛）；（平局后）再赛以决胜负

Smith and Peter will play off next week．史密斯和彼得下周举行决赛。

The visitors came back the next Saturday to play off the game stopped by rain．客队下星期六来进行因雨天而停止的比赛。

When each player had won two matches，the championship was decided by playing off the tie．两个选手都各赢两局后，再赛一局以决定冠军。

play off . make fun of取笑

Jones always tried to play off poor old Smith who stammered badly．琼斯总想嘲弄可怜的老史密斯，因为他口吃得很厉害。

play off . pretend假装

The man is not ill； he is playing off．这人没病，他是在装病。

play out . perform to the end把…进行到底

In spite of the heavy rain they managed to play out the football match．尽管雨下得很大，他们还是坚持把球踢完。

The actors played out the comedy and the audience applauded．演员们演完喜剧后，观众拍手喝采。

play out . exhaust疲倦

I'm always played out by the time I finish work on Fridays．每到星期五这时候，所有的事情都做完了，我总会感到精疲力竭。

The work was strenuous for John，and each day he would arrive home all played out．对于约翰来说，这工作实在太吃力了，他每天回到家里，总是精疲力尽。

play out . become ineffective已不适用

Such methods soon played out．这些方法很快就不适用了。

play politics . play tricks for one's own gain玩弄权术；操纵

The attorney for the union accused the Mayor of playing politics in the strike．工会律师谴责市长在这次罢工中玩弄权术。

In order to get elected，he had to play politics with both the unions and the bosses．为了要当选，他得同时与工会和老板们达成协议。