play off
See also: playoff and play-off
English
Verb
play off
- (transitive) To pretend not to be embarrassed, upset, impressed, or otherwise affected by something.
- After tripping, Sara tried to play her embarrassment off by laughing with everyone else.
- Although he's obviously hung over, he's trying to play it off as food poisoning.
- (sports) To compete against in a play-off.
- (dated) To display; to show; to put in exercise.
- to play off tricks
Related terms
- (deny embarrassment): style it out