play around with

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.

So we play around with different ideas for that, and that would be nice to see because we’ve seen Elsbeth as a mother, but we haven’t seen her as a daughter.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

"We are two men of 80 years of age, so we cannot play around with democracy," he said.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

And she advises her to play around with online retirement-planning tools to stress-test scenarios such as a job loss, health events and living to 100.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026

The Social Security Administration can give you estimates as to what benefits would be at different ages, and offers benefit calculators to let you play around with the numbers.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 13, 2025

“Ay-yi-yi. I already got arthuritis in my elbow. I’m too old to play around with them balls. I’d wrench my back.”

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole