What's the difference between downplay and play?

Downplay


Definition:

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In American football, however, more than 4,500 former NFL players sued their league for downplaying the dangers of concussion, and last year there was an out-of-court settlement for around £500m.
  • (2) The Kuwaiti admitted openly lobbying for Bach, a breach of IOC rules, but both downplayed his influence following Bach's victory.
  • (3) Facebook Twitter Pinterest China dismisses Trump call with Taiwan as ‘small trick’ However, Beijing’s public response has so far been measured, with the foreign ministry lodging a “solemn representation” with Washington and the foreign minister, Wang Yi, downplaying the development as “a petty move” by Taiwan.
  • (4) Now that the State Department has just released a final environmental impact report on Keystone XL, which appears to downplay the threat, and greatly increases the odds that the Obama administration will approve the project, I feel I must weigh in once again.
  • (5) Both Egypt and Russia have downplayed suggestions that the crash is linked to terrorism and dismissed claims of responsibility by an Islamist group in Sinai.
  • (6) Several other roles have been mooted for Brooks, though the company downplayed suggestions that she would run Storyful, a Dublin-based social media news agency started by the former RTÉ current affairs presenter Mark Little, or manage the Sun’s digital operations.
  • (7) The Australian prime minister made the remark as he sought to downplay any suggestion of disagreement with Barack Obama over climate change.
  • (8) The Leave campaign has also sought to downplay the risks of a British exit by following the example of Norway, which has access to the EU’s single market as a member of the European Economic Area.
  • (9) Republicans have for months been claiming the White House was engaged in a cover-up, downplaying the role of an al-Qaida inspired group in the attack and suggesting instead the attack was mainly the result of a demonstration by a mob against an American-produced anti-Islam film.
  • (10) Spence advocates the gathering of brute data while denying or downplaying the epistemological value of theorizing and of interpretive understandings.
  • (11) But in this case Trump’s campaign did not attempt to downplay the remarks as humorous.
  • (12) Speaking to the media after the summit, Abbott downplayed the importance of the fund.
  • (13) This “hard Brexit” is favoured by some Conservatives although on Monday ratings agency Moody’s downplayed the impact , saying that while there would be a loss of business the impact would be manageable.
  • (14) But Barack Obama is an example of someone who deliberately downplayed and thus, transcended his race.
  • (15) The spokesperson confirmed that the ministry had “indirectly owned” the Chinese firm in the joint venture but downplayed its involvement and said Chen had never worked for the ministry.
  • (16) Without wishing to downplay their hard work, I know pupils who have achieved an A* with what I would consider to be only the most rudimentary ability in French and certainly not a true A2-level.
  • (17) The US president's comments appeared to be an attempt to downplay speculation that Israel was preparing to attack Iran following a report last week that the US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, believes an Israeli strike could happen this spring.
  • (18) The former head of Derbyshire CID told the Guardian that Clarke's plan to increase the discounted tariff for rape when assailants admitted guilt to 50%, alongside crimes like robbery and burglary, downplayed the severity of the offence, in turn inviting officers to investigate it less thoroughly.
  • (19) Israelis were deeply insulted by foreign media organisations which seemed to be downplaying the kidnapping, or, by describing the teenagers as "three settlers", to be putting them into a political context.
  • (20) This right and duty, which all editors in the world have, should not be undermined by algorithms encoded in your office in California.” “Editors cannot live with you, Mark, as a master editor.” Speaking in Rome last month, Zuckerberg addressed the question of Facebook’s role in the news media and appeared to downplay his editorial responsibilities.

Play


Definition:

  • (n.) To engage in sport or lively recreation; to exercise for the sake of amusement; to frolic; to spot.
  • (n.) To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.
  • (n.) To contend, or take part, in a game; as, to play ball; hence, to gamble; as, he played for heavy stakes.
  • (n.) To perform on an instrument of music; as, to play on a flute.
  • (n.) To act; to behave; to practice deception.
  • (n.) To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate; to act; as, the fountain plays.
  • (n.) To move gayly; to wanton; to disport.
  • (n.) To act on the stage; to personate a character.
  • (v. t.) To put in action or motion; as, to play cannon upon a fortification; to play a trump.
  • (v. t.) To perform music upon; as, to play the flute or the organ.
  • (v. t.) To perform, as a piece of music, on an instrument; as, to play a waltz on the violin.
  • (v. t.) To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute; as, to play tricks.
  • (v. t.) To act or perform (a play); to represent in music action; as, to play a comedy; also, to act in the character of; to represent by acting; to simulate; to behave like; as, to play King Lear; to play the woman.
  • (v. t.) To engage in, or go together with, as a contest for amusement or for a wager or prize; as, to play a game at baseball.
  • (v. t.) To keep in play, as a hooked fish, in order to land it.
  • (n.) Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols.
  • (n.) Any exercise, or series of actions, intended for amusement or diversion; a game.
  • (n.) The act or practice of contending for victory, amusement, or a prize, as at dice, cards, or billiards; gaming; as, to lose a fortune in play.
  • (n.) Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair play; sword play; a play of wit.
  • (n.) A dramatic composition; a comedy or tragedy; a composition in which characters are represented by dialogue and action.
  • (n.) The representation or exhibition of a comedy or tragedy; as, he attends ever play.
  • (n.) Performance on an instrument of music.
  • (n.) Motion; movement, regular or irregular; as, the play of a wheel or piston; hence, also, room for motion; free and easy action.
  • (n.) Hence, liberty of acting; room for enlargement or display; scope; as, to give full play to mirth.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) However, medicines have an important part to play, and it is now generally agreed that for the very poor populations medicines should be restricted to those on an 'essential drugs list' and should be made available as cheaply as possible.
  • (2) The data indicate that ebselen is likely to be useful in the therapy of inflammatory conditions in which reactive oxygen species, such as peroxides, play an aetiological role.
  • (3) It involves creativity, understanding of art form and the ability to improvise in the highly complex environment of a care setting.” David Cameron has boosted dementia awareness but more needs to be done Read more She warns: “To effect a cultural change in dementia care requires a change of thinking … this approach is complex and intricate, and can change cultural attitudes by regarding the arts as central to everyday life of the care home.” Another participant, Mary*, a former teacher who had been bedridden for a year, read plays with the reminiscence arts practitioner.
  • (4) Despite of the increasing diagnostic importance of the direct determination of the parathormone which is at first available only in special institutions in these cases methodical problems play a less important part than the still not infrequent appearing misunderstanding of the adequate basic disease.
  • (5) Mike Ashley told Lee Charnley that maybe he could talk with me last week but I said: ‘Listen, we cannot say too much so I think it’s better if we wait.’ The message Mike Ashley is sending is quite positive, but it was better to talk after we play Tottenham.” Benítez will ask Ashley for written assurances over his transfer budget, control of transfers and other spheres of club autonomy, but can also reassure the owner that the prospect of managing in the second tier holds few fears for him.
  • (6) Because many wnt genes are also expressed in the lung, we have examined whether the wnt family member wnt-2 (irp) plays a role in lung development.
  • (7) As prolongation of the action potential by TEA facilitates preferentially the hormone release evoked by low (ineffective) frequencies, it is suggested that a frequency-dependent broadening of action potentials which reportedly occurs on neurosecretory neurones may play an important role in the frequency-dependent facilitation of hormone release from the rat neurohypophysis.
  • (8) Michael Caine was his understudy for the 1959 play The Long and the Short and the Tall at the Royal Court Theatre.
  • (9) The presently available data allow us to draw the following conclusions: 1) G proteins play a mediatory role in the transmission of the signal(s) generated upon receptor occupancy that leads to the observed cytoskeletal changes.
  • (10) In concert with TF expressed by monocytes and macrophages this endothelial cell procoagulant activity may play a role in the pathogenesis of thrombotic disease.
  • (11) To determine whether or not the glycan moieties in hTPO play a role in the disease-associated epitopes in Hashimoto's thyroiditis, radiolabeled recombinant hTPO was immunoprecipitated after digestion with N-glycanase.
  • (12) Immunohistochemical observation of myoepithelial cells with monoclonal antibody from human mammalian cancer suggested that these cells play an important role in the process of glandular ducts formation.
  • (13) Anti-human factor V IgG decreased this enhanced thrombin formation in the presence of platelets, indicating that factor V from platelets was playing an important role in thrombin formation.
  • (14) The macrophage-derived product, interleukin 1 (IL 1) is thought to play an important regulatory role in the proliferation of T lymphocytes; however, its mechanism of action is unknown.
  • (15) The playing fields on which all those players began their journeys have been underfunded for years and are now facing a renewed crisis because of cuts to local authority budgets.
  • (16) The behaviour of DAO suggests that the enzyme plays an important role in the control of intracellular diamine concentration.
  • (17) It was with unanimous consent.” He denied that Trump’s tweets had played a part, saying: “No, no, no.
  • (18) When you have been out for a month you need to prepare properly before you come back.” Pellegrini will make his own assessment of Kompany’s fitness before deciding whether to play him in the Bournemouth game, which he is careful to stress may not be the foregone conclusion the league table might suggest.
  • (19) Photograph: Guardian The research also compiled data covered by a wider definition of tax haven, including onshore jurisdictions such as the US state of Delaware – accused by the Cayman islands of playing "faster and looser" even than offshore jurisdictions – and the Republic of Ireland, which has come under sustained pressure from other EU states to reform its own low-tax, light-tough, regulatory environment.
  • (20) Therefore, the measurement of the alpha-antitrypsin content plays the crucial part in differential diagnosis of primary (hereditary determined) and secondary (obstructive) emphysema.