Emily Dickinson Lexicon

play (-ed, -eth, -ing -s), v. [OE pleˋan.] (webplay: bend, bleed, blind, book, character, child, composition, day, degrees, desert, display, distinctly, diversion, dooms, dramatic, drink, eyesight, fair play, fame, fire, flute, fool, foreign, free play, friend, gambols, gentle, head, heard, heart, house, justifies, leap, liberty, lie, lives, lord, maker, man, merriment, move, music, Nature, people, practice, question, room, rose, sat, setting sun, shining, skip, standing, sun, tragedy, true, wheel, wind, work).

1. Romp; frolic; gambol; cavort.
2. Engage in a game of.
3. Rest; relax; enjoy leisure; take a break from labor.
4. Pretend; imagine; dream; make believe.
5. Dance; sway; move rhythmically.
6. Flicker; flash.
7. Perform on a musical instrument.
8. Repeat; sound; be heard.
9. [Fig.] exist; be located.
10. Phrase. “Play at”: imagine; pretend; engage in a game of; participate in a fanciful activity of.
11. Phrase. “Play with”: rustle; agitate; stir up.