play fair

Idioms and Phrases

Behave honestly and honorably, obey the rules, as in Not every supplier we deal with plays fair , or We can't just leave them to find their own way back—that's not playing fair . Although this idiom conjures up playing by the rules in some game or sport, it actually has been used in this figurative way since the mid-1400s. Also see play the game .

Example Sentences

They tend not to play fair, and “Good Girl’s Guide” is no exception.

From Los Angeles Times

And in the antitrust lawsuits that they filed against Apple last month, the Justice Department pointed back to complaints that company co-founder Steve Jobs had raised in 1998 against Microsoft’s “dirty tactics” while urging regulators to take steps to force the PC software maker “to play fair.”

From Seattle Times

They shook hands and promised to play fair.

From Literature

“They took Cristiano Ronaldo out of the team and they say, ‘You still have a team,’ but yeah, but let’s be fair and play fair.”

From Seattle Times

“Things like that just don’t play fair in our mind.”

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• manage