play along

verb

intrusually foll bywith to cooperate (with), esp as a temporary measure
tr to manipulate as if in a game, esp for one's own advantage
he played the widow along until she gave him her money

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Idioms and Phrases

Cooperate or pretend to cooperate, as in They decided to play along with the robbers, at least for a while . [ Colloquial ; 1920s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

But his joy turned to rage when Metcalf did not play along with the racist stunt.

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Hey, if you're paying for a prayer app, why not play along with the pretense that a mindless computer is your conduit to the mind of God?

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I suspect a major reason that so many powerful companies, schools and other institutions have been playing along with Trump is that their leaders have convinced themselves his time in power is short-lived.

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Instead, most resemble the residents of Jonestown, many who hoped Jim Jones was testing their faith with all this poison-Kool-Aid talk, which allowed them to play along until it was too late to save themselves.

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He added: "I believe the school tried to use the police to close down legitimate inquiries, and for some reason the constabulary played along."

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

play agent play a losing game

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