verb
1. perform an accompaniment to
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The orchestra could barely follow the frequent pitch changes of the soprano
• Derivationally related forms: ↑accompanist (for: ↑accompany), ↑accompaniment (for: ↑accompany)
• Topics: ↑music
• Hypernyms: ↑play
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s something
-
Somebody ——s somebody
2. cooperate or pretend to cooperate
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He decided to play along with the burglars for the moment
• Syn: ↑go along
• Hypernyms: ↑collaborate, ↑join forces, ↑cooperate, ↑get together
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s
-
Somebody ——s PP
* * *
play along
(with with) to co-operate or agree with someone, usu temporarily
• • •
Main Entry: ↑play
* * *
ˌplay a ˈlong [intransitive] [present tense I/you/we/they play along he/she/it plays along present participle playing along past tense played along past participle played along] phrasal verb
to pretend to agree with someone or something, especially in order to get what you want or avoid an argument
play along with:
Just play along with what he wants. It’s easier.
Thesaurus: to pretend to do or feel somethingsynonym
Main entry: play
* * *
pretend to cooperate
she had to play along and be polite
* * *
play along [phrasal verb]
: to agree to do or accept what other people want
They wanted me to cooperate with them, but I refused to play along. [=go along]
If I pretend to be sick, will you play along and tell everyone that I had to go to the doctor?
— often + with
I refused to play along with them.
Will you play along with my plan?
• • •
Main Entry: ↑play
Useful english dictionary. 2012.