Dictionary

play out en · VERB

Meanings

1. (transitive) To play (a game etc.) to its conclusion.
   • Newcastle and Blackburn played out a goalless draw in a game that the Magpies dominated at Ewood Park. 2011 February 12, Nabil Hassan, “Blackburn 0 - 0 Newcastle”, in BBC:
2. (transitive) To play music to accompany the end of, or as a final segment in (a programme, broadcast etc.).
   • And now, to play us out, please welcome Tom Waits.
3. (intransitive) To occur or develop in a certain manner.
   • Let's keep our heads down for a little while and see how things play out.
   • My date played out a little differently than I imagined.
   • And often, the person managing the money isn’t always managing it well. We’ve seen this play out publicly in fraud cases, in bankruptcies, in marriages that appear stable until the numbers are exposed. 2026 April 22, Jillian Sanders, “The Danger of Surrendering Your Financial Independence in a Relationship”, in TIME, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2026:
   • No! None of this is your fault. I don't think anyone could have predicted things to play out the way they did. 2026 June 19, Gooseworx, “Remember” (4:33 from the start), in The Amazing Digital Circus, episode 9, spoken by Kinger (Sean Chiplock):
   • The Mountain versus the Hound played out entertainingly, with the elder Clegane still outmatching his younger brother pound for pound and blow for blow. Being turned into a walking zombie of sorts didn’t just amplify his strength; it essentially obviated the need to parry blows, as even Sandor sinking his sword deep into his undead brother didn’t seem to slow him down in the slightest. 2019 May 12, Alex McLevy, “Westeros faces a disastrous final battle on the penultimate Game of Thrones (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 15 May 2019:
4. (qualifier:perhaps influenced by or confused with 'pay out', transitive) To feed (rope, cord, etc.) so as to allow more length or slackness.
   • I sat at the top of the cliff and played out the rope as she descended.
5. (Europe, intransitive, transitive) To compete in a play-out; to compete against (an opponent) in a play-out.
6. To die.
   • "I doubt if you could stand the trip," the major said coolly. "You might play out." Mitchell forgot that he was a petitioner. "Play out?" he shouted. "I rode ninety miles and crawled ten with a broken leg one time. I didn't play out!" 1952, Dorothy M. Johnson, The Unbeliever; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 30:

Forms

Deriveds

play out the string

Translations (4)

it svolgere (intransitive: to occur or develop in a certain manner) · pl rozwijać się (intransitive: to occur or develop in a certain manner) · es discurrir (intransitive: to occur or develop in a certain manner) · pl rozwinąć się (intransitive: to occur or develop in a certain manner)