What's the difference between play and ploy?

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.

Ploy


Definition:

  • (n.) Sport; frolic.
  • (v. i.) To form a column from a line of troops on some designated subdivision; -- the opposite of deploy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) 10.36am BST Mind Games Well come on then, let's have your thoughts on the best psychological ploys in football history.
  • (2) Chelsea , however, will not be too concerned if this match is added to the long list of games that is used to knock José Mourinho's ploys of conservatism and, ultimately, it is proven to be a valuable result.
  • (3) He wrote: “The NHS in Wales will not be the victim of any Conservative party ploy to drag its reputation through the mud for entirely partisan political purposes.
  • (4) The unsuspecting public may not realise that the call to avoid palm oil is nothing more than a trade ploy since in recent years palm oil has been very competitive and has gained a major share of the world's edible oils and fats market.
  • (5) Will he really go in the slower group of elite runners and not the pace set by Haile Gebrselassie, allowing his rivals a 30-second advantage at halfway, or is it a clever psychological ploy?
  • (6) But in an interview with Buzzfeed , he claimed the choice of lead, played by Jeremy Irvine, was a deliberate ploy to appeal to a heterosexual crowd.
  • (7) Yet Wenger talked about it jarring with his principles to base his entire strategy around ploys of conservatism.
  • (8) This is in part due to planned obsolescence – a devious ploy by manufacturers bolstered by marketing strategies to make us fall out of love with a product hastily.
  • (9) The link between Lynton Crosby and the tax haven could make uncomfortable reading for the prime minister, who has described legal ploys to avoid tax as morally wrong.
  • (10) For the most part, however, the home side were unashamed about their ploys of conservatism.
  • (11) That was Nigeria’s outlet ball all game, and was clearly a deliberate ploy on the part of Keshi.
  • (12) If the ploy had worked, Texas conservatives might have seen Dewhurst as the hero who saved the anti-abortion bill.
  • (13) This ploy has proven unsuccessful in all cases where scientific evidence was adequately presented by the state and in all important court cases where the issue was critically examined.
  • (14) The essence of his argument is that the programme is a ploy to displace poor people from their homes to divert resources to consultants and developers.
  • (15) What giant new claim on our fast-depleting personal wealth is the chancellor going to spring on us that requires such an elaborate ploy?
  • (16) For the owners, this bafflement is a deliberate ploy to enhance the wow factor of reaching the lively reception and bar.
  • (17) Earlier this month a federal district judge, Nelva Gonzales Ramos, struck down the law , slamming it as a cynical ploy on the part of Republicans to fend off the growing strength of the minority electorate in Texas by “suppressing the overwhelmingly Democratic votes of African Americans and Latinos”.
  • (18) This campaign is nothing but a self-interested and cynical ploy by the newspaper, a childish way of hitting back at the growing chorus of anti-Page 3 voices .
  • (19) Although light-hearted in character, Klinsmann’s ploy seems to have a serious purpose behind it as American interest in the World Cup reaches unprecedented levels.
  • (20) Boxer described the Republicans’ letter as “bizarre, inappropriate” and a “desperate ploy to scuttle a comprehensive agreement” that she said is “in the best interests of the United States, Israel and the world”.