play with
phrasal verbplay with somebody/something
- to treat somebody who is emotionally attached to you in a way that is not serious and which can hurt their feelings
- She tends to play with men's emotions.
- She realized that Patrick was merely playing with her.
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play with something
- to keep touching or moving something
- She was playing with her hair.
- Stop playing with your food!
- to use things in different ways to produce an interesting or humorous effect, or to see what effect they have
- In this poem Fitch plays with words which sound alike.
- The composer plays with the exotic sounds of Japanese instruments.
- Don’t be afraid to play with colour.