Word family noun play interplay replay player playfulness adjective playful playable verb play outplay replay adverb playfully
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishplayerplay‧er /ˈpleɪə $ -ər/ ●●● S2 W1 noun [countable] 1 DSPLAY A GAME OR SPORTsomeone who takes part in a game or sport a basketball player2 IMPORTANTone of the important people, companies, countries etc that is involved in and influences a situation, especially one involving competitiona major/dominant/key etc player a firm that is a dominant player on Wall Streetplayer in/on a key player in world affairs3 → a CD/record/video etc player4 APMsomeone who plays a musical instrument a guitar player5 a man who has sexual relationships with many different women6 old-fashionedAPT an actor → key mover/player at key1Examples from the Corpus
player• Wikerson is not as good a player as Phillips.• Macintosh computers come with a player that can handle a variety of sound formats.• Kelleher was a star basketball player in high school and college.• a bass player• The four bench players Miami used played 57 minutes, took nine shots and missed seven of them.• He is recognized as the world's greatest chess player.• The school has a reputation for producing top-class football players.• a game for four players• I like chess, even though I'm not a very good player.• She sang "I'll Fly Away, " accompanied by two guitar players.• It's now the turn of player number three.• You have a defender, you have an offensive player.• Simpson is a talented singer and piano player.• Up to six players can play this game on-line.• a tennis player• One of the players had been injured, and had to leave the field.• One of the players has been sent off the field.• On the pitch I had noticed that the players had become a little more tense.• The next step is to talk to the player.• It happened - whether by accident or design Olivia didn't know-that she and the Nawab were the last two players left.• Rodriguez was voted Player of the Year.a major/dominant/key etc player• Enron is expected to be a major player in the new California market.• He had become a key player in the New York real-estate game community, which is both tightly knit and secretive.• He was constantly aware of the tightrope he was walking-being a major player among the elite but not really one of them.• Lawrence Smith was clearly a key player.• The Bank is a major player in the sterling money market, buying and selling Treasury bills on a daily basis.• The military is a key player in the conflict, but its role is unclear.• The loss of such a key player has to have an emotional effect.• The Palatinate was a major player in the war which was both political and religious with alignments changing as events developed.From Longman Business Dictionaryplayerplay‧er /ˈpleɪə-ər/ noun [countable]COMMERCE one of the important people, companies etc involved in a particular industry, market, situation etcplayer inHe is one of the major players in the multimedia industry.The company is a world player in telecommunications equipment. → gross player → market player → net player → see also team player 