play (on or upon)

verb

Definition of play (on or upon)next
as in to use
to take unfair advantage of the candidate played on the voters' prejudices

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for play (on or upon)
  1. use
  2. exploit
  3. abuse
  4. leverage
  5. manipulate
Verb
  • One of Trump's top confidants, billionaire Elon Musk, who used his massive social media following to help kill the spending bill, even suggested Congress leave the government closed until Trump takes office next month, and a handful of Republican hardliners in the House agreed.
    Sam Woodward, USA TODAY, 21 Dec. 2024
  • Finding Chiron’s gas In the new study, a team used data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study these TNOs that are a bit like floating time capsules.
    Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 20 Dec. 2024
Definition of use
Verb
  • Regular updates often include security patches that protect against vulnerabilities that scammers might exploit.
    Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report, Fox News, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Pursuing short-term gains by exploiting deregulation can erode the foundation of sustainable success: a stable, engaged, and productive workforce.
    Solange Charas, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of exploit
Verb
  • The University of Chicago has long abused its architectural treasures.
    Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 15 Dec. 2024
  • On Tuesday, lawmakers approved a special counsel to investigate whether Yoon committed insurrection and abused his power by issuing martial law.
    Jessie Yeung, CNN, 14 Dec. 2024
Definition of abuse
Verb
  • O’Kane will work with Noah’s development and creative teams to forge a slate of originals for brands, leveraging the indie’s relationship with sporting federations, having won an Emmy earlier this year year for its work with sports body UEFA.
    Max Goldbart, Deadline, 16 Dec. 2024
  • For example, Salesforce leverages security to build trust with cloud computing customers, especially those handling sensitive information.
    Pukar Hamal, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
Definition of leverage
Verb
  • But all of that changed starting in 2017, when Mr. Trump became president amid the F.B.I. investigation into Russia’s covert attempt to manipulate the 2016 election and the nature of the ties between his campaign and Moscow.
    Charlie Savage, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2024
  • Symbolic capitalists—academics, commentators, lawyers, consultants—manipulate words or data rather than making things with their hands.
    Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2024
Definition of manipulate
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near play (on or upon)

play-offs

play (on or upon)

play out

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Play (on or upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/play%20%28on%20or%20upon%29. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.

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