play around

verb

1. commit adultery (Freq. 1)

-

he plays around a lot

• Syn: ↑fool around

• Hypernyms: ↑cheat on, ↑cheat, ↑cuckold, ↑betray, ↑wander

• Verb Frames:

-

Somebody ——s

2. work with in an amateurish manner

-

She dabbles in astronomy

-

He plays around with investments but he never makes any money

• Syn: ↑dabble, ↑smatter

• Derivationally related forms: ↑dabbler (for: ↑dabble)

• Hypernyms: ↑busy, ↑occupy

• Verb Frames:

-

Somebody ——s something

-

Somebody ——s VERB-ing

-

Somebody ——s

(for: ↑dabble)

* * *

play around (or about)

behave in a casual, foolish, or irresponsible way

you shouldn't play around with a child's future

■ informal (of a married person) have a love affair

* * *

play around (also Brit play about) [phrasal verb]

1 : to have sex with someone who is not your husband, wife, or regular partner

He's not the kind of guy who plays around. [=fools around, messes around]

— often + on

She's been playing around on her husband.

— often + with

She's been playing around with one of her coworkers.

2 : to deal with or treat something in a careless way

When it comes to protecting his family, he doesn't play around. [=fool around, mess around]

— often + with

You can't play around with diabetes; it's a very serious disease.

3 : to use or do something in a way that is not very serious

It's time to stop playing around [=fooling around] and get busy.

— often + on

I spent the evening playing around on the piano/computer/Internet.

— often + with

I'm not really a painter; I just like to play around with paints.

4 play around with (something) : to move or change (something) or to think about (something) in different ways often in order to find out what would work best

I see you've been playing around with the living room furniture again.

The supervisor played around with our work schedules this week.

We played around with the idea for a while but eventually realized that it just wouldn't work.

— see also ↑play 9 (above), 1

• • •

Main Entry: ↑play