play possum

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.

Any chance that the M’s were playing possum with Marte and Arroyo?

From Seattle Times

After running the simulation thousands of times, the researchers found that “playing possum” indeed helped the antlions: It increased the survival rate in a given patch by about 20 percent.

From New York Times

At first, I considered playing possum — not responding.

From Los Angeles Times

Someone might be playing possum with great cards, but it’s worth putting out a larger bet to see if you can exploit their weakness and scare them into folding.

From Golf Digest

“Alternative viewpoints”? It’s exasperating to watch a smart woman play possum like this — not just in the interviews but in the writing, especially when her conclusions don’t tell us anything we didn’t know before.

From New York Times