Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for play along. Search instead for plow+along.

play along

British  

verb

  1. to cooperate (with), esp as a temporary measure

  2. (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
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
play along Idioms  

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The posts allow other Polymarket users to play along.

From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026

Michelle gamely tries to play along, pretending she’s an alien.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

The Trojans are 5-1 in a new era where even two-loss teams can qualify and, OK, just play along here for a sec.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 12, 2025

I decided to play along with Syndicate after taking advice from a senior BBC editor.

From BBC • Sep. 29, 2025

You've brought your guitar and your capo47 to the sing-along because you'd like to play along, too.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.