power play

noun

: a military, diplomatic, political, or administrative maneuver in which power is brought to bear

: a concentrated attack in football in which the ballcarrier is preceded by a mass of blockers

: a situation in ice hockey in which one team temporarily has more players on the ice than the other team because of a penalty

Examples of power play in a Sentence

They scored their first goal on a power play. He made a power play to seize control of the company.

Recent Examples on the Web Sorry to those still thinking about Fahy’s incredible bait-and-switch power play in season 2 of The White Lotus. —

Lucy Ford, TIME, 6 Sep. 2024 So there's some interesting power plays of who's going to listen to who and follow who and give advice. —

Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2024 Curry hasn’t historically made public power plays to pressure his front office, unlike some of his peers. —

Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 28 July 2024 This scenario illustrates how the Republican right’s power play may have backfired already. —

Steven Delco, Hartford Courant, 27 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for power play

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'power play.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.