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Play off

verb

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To portray (something) (as unimportant); to dismiss or make light of (a factor in a situation, or one's embarrassment about it); to pretend not to be embarrassed, upset, impressed, or otherwise affected by (it). often, transitive

    "After tripping, Sara tried to play her embarrassment off by laughing with everyone else."

  2. 2
    set into opposition or rivalry wordnet
  3. 3
    To set (other people) against one another: to induce competition between them, especially in a covert way so that they do not realize the degree to which they have been played (manipulated). transitive

    "Stalin's propensity to play off his subordinates against one another is a well-studied theme."

  4. 4
    To compete in a play-off; to compete against (an opponent) in a play-off. intransitive, transitive
  5. 5
    To display; to show; to put in exercise. dated, transitive

    "to play off tricks"

See also for "play off"

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