play
(=recreation) jeu m
Children's play prepares them for adulthood. Le jeu chez les enfants les prépare à leur vie d'adulte.
→ The children had a few hours of play before going to bed.
(in sports, games)
jeu m
Rain again interrupted play at Wimbledon today. La pluie a une nouvelle fois interrompu le jeu à Wimbledon aujourd'hui.
Fischer won after 5 hours of play. Fisher a gagné après cinq heures de jeu.
style of play style de jeu
→ both sides adopted the continental style of play
(THEATRE) pièce f (de théâtre)
a play by Shakespeare une pièce de Shakespeare
→ It's my favourite Shakespeare play.
to put on a play monter une pièce
to act in a play jouer dans une pièce
→ The children are acting in a play at school.
(US, SPORT)
(=manoeuvre) phase f de jeu
→ a brilliant play
→ a defensive play
[+light] jeu m
→ the play of the sun on the water
to bring sth into play faire entrer qch en jeu
→ Breathing brings many muscles into play.
to be brought into play entrer en jeu
→ Computer systems were brought into play to draw up attack strategies.
to call sth into play faire entrer qch en jeu
to come into play entrer en jeu
[+game] jouer à
I play hockey. Je joue au hockey.
Can you play pool? Tu sais jouer au billard américain?
Let's play a game. Jouons à un jeu.
→ They're playing hangman.
→ He spends most evenings playing chess.
→ He loves playing football.
→ I used to play basketball.
→ I want to play rugby for my country.
to play cards jouer aux cartes
→ Alan was playing cards with his friends.
to play a heart jouer un cœur
[+team, opponent] jouer contre
France will play Scotland next month. La France jouera contre l'Écosse le mois prochain.
→ I saw Australia play England at Lords.
[+ball, shot] jouer
think first before playing the ball pensez avant de jouer le ballon
→ Sikander Bakht played a bad shot
(MUSIC)
[+instrument] jouer de
I play the guitar. Je joue de la guitare.
Can you play the piano? Sais-tu jouer du piano?
(MUSIC)
[+piece of music, note] jouer
→ What can you play?
→ He only knew one tune, which he played over and over again.
What sort of music do they play? Quel genre de musique jouent-ils?
to play a concert se produire en concert
→ he will play concerts in Amsterdam and Paris
(=put on)
[+tape, CD] mettre
She's always playing that record. Elle met tout le temps ce disque.
→ I must have played that album thousands of times.
to play a trick on sb jouer un tour à qn
→ Someone had played a trick on her, glued a coin to the floor.
to play a joke on sb jouer un tour à qn
→ This cannot be happening, somebody must be playing a joke
(THEATRE, CINEMA)
[+part] jouer
Gwen Taylor played the part of Christine. Gwen Taylor jouait le rôle de Christine.
His ambition is to play Lear. Il ambitionne de jouer Lear.
to play a part in sth (fig) jouer un rôle dans qch
to play a large part in sth jouer un grand rôle dans qch
→ Examinations seem to play a large part in education.
to play a role in sth (fig) jouer un rôle dans qch
to play a major role in sth jouer un rôle majeur dans qch
The UN would play a major role in monitoring a ceasefire. Les Nations unies joueraient un rôle majeur dans le contrôle du cessez-le-feu.
(=behave in a certain way)
to play it cautious jouer la prudence
investors are playing it cautious les investisseurs jouent la prudence
to play it cool garder son sang-froid
→ The idea seems to have been to play it cool, not force a crisis
→ I thought I'd play it cool. Wait for him to ring.
to play it safe jouer la prudence, jouer la sécurité
→ The pilot played it safe and landed at Wellington instead of going on to Christchurch.
(=pretend to be) jouer
→ Hill tried to play the peacemaker
→ she was just playing the devoted mother
to play the innocent jouer l'innocent
[children] jouer
→ She invited the children round to play.
to play with sb jouer avec qn
He's playing with his friends. Il joue avec ses amis.
to play with sth jouer avec qch
Polly was playing with her teddy bear. Polly jouait avec son nounours.
(SPORT, GAMES) jouer
to play against sb jouer contre qn
→ I've played against him a few times recently.
[musician, orchestra] jouer
→ A small orchestra was playing.
→ The soloist played exceptionally well.
[music, CD] passer
→ There was classical music playing in the background.
[actor] jouer
to play in a film jouer dans un film
→ She said he had loved acting, and as a child had once played in a film opposite Joan Collins.
(=be on)
[film, play] être à l'affiche
→ Book now for Ben Elton's new Rod Stewart Musical, Tonight's the Night now playing at the Victoria Palace
(=behave a certain way)
to play safe jouer la prudence, jouer la sécurité
→ I know it's sunny, but I'll play safe and take an umbrella.
[light] jouer The sun played on the frosty roofs. Le soleil jouait sur les toits couverts de givre.
child's play
n
It's child's play. C'est un jeu d'enfant.
fair play
n fair-play m inv
→ ... a legal system that is unmatched anywhere in the world for its justice and sense of fair play.
foul play
n
(SPORT) jeu m irrégulier
→ Players were warned twice for foul play.
(=murder)
Foul play is not suspected. On écarte l'hypothèse d'un meurtre.
nativity play
n pièce f représentant la Nativité
passion play
n mystère m de la Passion
▲
play about
vi
▲
play about with
vt fus
(=toy with) jouer avec
→ Look at what so-and-so sent me today, he says, playing about with his mouse.
(=reorganize)
[+layout, graphics] jouer avec
(=explore possibilities of)
[+computers, ideas, methods] jouer avec
→ I have some interest in playing about with computers
→ Some of the Ideas I've Been Playing About With
(=tamper with) jouer avec
→ We are playing about with genetic structures that existed for millions of years
▲
play along
vi
(=pretend to cooperate) se prêter au jeu
→ He turned and led the way to the lift. Fox played along, following him
▲
play along with
vt fus
(=pretend to cooperate)
[+person] entrer dans le jeu de
→ When Sam starts talking to me about his imaginary friend, I just play along with him.
[+charade, pretence, fantasy] se prêter à
→ Kind-hearted officers at the Prison play along with the charade.
→ My mother has learnt to play along with the bizarre conversations begun by father.
→ What he refused to do was shut up and play along with the pretence of weapons inspection.
→ Society seems content to play along with these notions.
→ I engaged in his delusions and played along with the fantasy that he had.
▲
play around
vi
(=act the fool) faire l'imbécile
→ Stop playing around and eat your cereals!
(=have affairs) avoir des aventures
→ Up to 75% of married men may be playing around
▲
play around with
vt fus
(=toy with) s'amuser avec
→ Kryten and Cat walk into the room. Cat is playing around with his gun.
(=reorganize)
[+layout, pictures] jouer avec
I'm just playing around with the pictures, seeing what looks best. Je joue juste avec les images pour voir ce qui rend le mieux.
(=explore possibilities of)
[+ideas, methods] jouer avec
→ In 1991 Marojevic began playing around with his camera and quickly developed a real love for photography.
(=tamper with) jouer avec
→ We are playing around with genetic structures that existed for millions of years
(=have an affair with) avoir une aventure avec
→ Robert was playing around with another woman
▲
play at
vt fus
[+politics, war] jouer à
→ I realized that I had been only playing at politics at university.
→ we are still playing at war, dropping leaflets instead of bombs
[child] jouer à
→ Ed played at being a pirate.
They're playing at soldiers. Ils jouent aux soldats.
*
(=do)
what's he playing at? à quoi il joue ?
→ What's he playing at, phoning at 4 in the morning?
she began to wonder what he was playing at elle commençait à se demander à quoi il jouait
what are you playing at? à quoi tu joues ?
→ "What do you think you're playing at?" he said. "I can't sell this"
▲
play back
vt sep
[+message, tape, film] repasser
→ He bought an answering machine that plays back his messages when he calls.
→ I played the tape back.
→ It's a good system. It allows you to play the film back immediately.
▲
play down
vt sep minimiser
→ He will play down the financial difficulties of the company.
→ The team coach played down the rivalry between the players.
He tried to play down his illness. Il a essayé de minimiser sa maladie.
▲
play for
vt fus
(SPORT)
[+team] jouer pour
He plays for Manchester United. Il joue pour Manchester United.
→ I want to play for my country
(in games)
to play for money jouer de l'argent
to play for time chercher à gagner du temps
→ The president's decision is being seen as an attempt to play for time.
it's all to play for tout reste à jouer
→ It is still all to play for: Celtic and Old Firm rivals Rangers are neck and neck and the Scottish Premiership could be won or lost when both teams play their last games on Sunday.
▲
play off against
vt sep
to play one off against the other jouer une personne contre une autre
→ Gregory would interview them, and would play one off against the other.
→ She always managed to have at least two boyfriends and used to play them off against each other
▲
play on
vt fus
[+sb's feelings, fears] jouer sur
to play on sb's nerves jouer sur les nerfs de qn
→ He used to play on their prejudices and their fears.
→ an election campaign which plays on the population's fear of change
→ I felt guilty saying that, playing on her generosity.
to play on sb's mind tarabuster qn
→ You can't afford to let it play on your mind if you lose a match.
▲
play up
vi
(=cause trouble)
[engine, child] faire des siennes
→ The engine had been playing up.
→ Patrick often plays up when he knows I'm in a hurry.
vt sep
to play sb up
[part of body] causer du souci à qn
→ His back was playing him up.
→ Mr Hasek's groin has been playing him up since February,
▲
play with
vt fus
(=toy with) jouer avec
→ she stared at the floor, idly playing with the strap of her handbag
play-act
vi jouer la comédie
→ The `victim' revealed he was only play-acting.
→ I wasn't really hurt - I was just play-acting.
play-acting
n comédie f
→ It was just a piece of play-acting.
Play-Doh®
n pâte f à modeler
play-off
n
(after a tie)
~match m de barrage
→ The gold tournament had to be decided by a play-off.
(US, for championship) match m de qualification
play on words
n jeu m de mots
plug-and-play
adj prêt (e) à l'emploi
→ ... a plug-and-play USB camera.
power play , power-play
n
(in politics, business)
jeu m de pouvoir, jeu m de pouvoirs
→ Their politics consisted of unstable power-plays between rival groups.
→ This is a power play to control a very small market
→ The word `fix" is completely inadequate to describe this weekend's display of blatant French eye-gouging and arm-twisting in a political power play
(SPORT) période f de supériorité numérique
radio play
n pièce f radiophonique
role-play , role play
n (gen)
jeu m de rôle, (PSYCHOLOGY, PSYCHIATRY) psychodrame m
→ Group members have to communicate with each other through role-play.