Dictionary

play possum en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From play + possum (“from opposum”), from the behavior of the Virginia opossum, which feigns death when threatened. First use appears c. 1807.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To feign death; to remain quiet and still to escape attention or remain undetected; to lie low.
   • To keep the focus away from his client, the lawyer basically played possum during the entire complex trial, and his tactic paid off with an acquittal.
   • What happened to Job after that I am sure I do not know, but my own impression is that he lay still upon the corpse of his deceased assailant, "playing 'possum" as the Americans say. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
   • The soldier played possum, fooling the sniper.
   • Thinking fast, we played possum, hoping the bear wouldn't bother us.
2. (idiomatic) To feign sleep, illness, etc.
   • When we used to get home late at night, I would play possum so my daddy would carry me inside and put me in bed.
3. (dated, idiomatic) To dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive.
   • As none came with the coach from Deadwood, I suppose the amount of funds was insignificant. You can't tell, though, for the stage company is liable to play possum sometimes. 1881, Alexander Lovett Stimson, History of the Express Business, page 354:
   • Though, as it afterwards turned out, the Yankee had money enough about him, and was merely playing the ’possum all the while. 1833, Asa Greene, A Yankee Among the Nullifiers: An Auto-biography, page 32:
   • Never imposing upon any one myself, I suffered no one to play the possum with me. 1840, Edgar Allan Poe, The Business Man:
   • You have been holding-in all this while — possumus omnes, we all play the ’possum... 1858, James Russell Lowell, in a letter to O.W. Holmes, collected in The Complete Writings of... p31

Forms

Relateds

sham Abram · sham Abraham

Synonyms

possum · act possum

Translations (33)

hu tudatlanságot színlel ((dated in English) to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive) · hu úgy tesz, mintha aludna (to feign sleep, illness, etc.) · ckb سەگەسەگە کردن (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · sv låtsassova (to feign sleep, illness, etc.) · ko 잠든 척 하다 (to feign sleep, illness, etc.) · sv spela död (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · hu játssza a tudatlant ((dated in English) to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive) · hu megjátssza, hogy alszik (to feign sleep, illness, etc.) · pl udawać ignorancję ((dated in English) to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive) · pl udawać trupa (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · pt fazer-se de morto (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · hu halottnak tetteti magát (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · de sich tot stellen (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · fi tekeytyä kuolleeksi (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · ja 狸寝入りをする (to feign sleep, illness, etc.) · pl udać ignorancję ((dated in English) to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive) · es hacerse el muerto (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · hu alvást színlel (to feign sleep, illness, etc.) · pt fingir-se de morto (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · ka თავს იმკვდარუნებს (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · pl symulować (to feign sleep, illness, etc.) · hu betegnek tetteti magát (to feign sleep, illness, etc.) · ko 죽은 척 하다 (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · hu nem ad életjelet (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · el κάνω τον ψόφιο κοριό (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · hu meglapul (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · pl udać trupa (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · hu úgy tesz, mintha semmiről nem tudna semmit ((dated in English) to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive) · fr faire le mort (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · it fingersi morto (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · hu lapul (to pretend to be dead; lie low) · hu betegséget színlel (to feign sleep, illness, etc.) · hu lapít (to pretend to be dead; lie low)