play\ ball

play\ ball
v. phr.
1. To begin play in a ball game.

When the umpire calls "Play ball," the game begins.

2. informal To join in an effort with others; cooperate.

To get along during Prohibition, many men felt that they had to play ball with gangsters.

A is often good business to play ball with a political machine.

informal. ••
to cooperate or negotiate with a view to doing business or reaching some agreement

Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". . 1997.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • play ball — (with (someone)) to agree to do something the way someone else wants you to. Critics say the agency has been pressured to play ball with drug companies. Related vocabulary: play along with someone/something, go along with someone/something… …   New idioms dictionary

  • play ball — If you play ball, you agree to do what someone asks you to do, or to agree to work with someone in order to achieve something together (often negative) …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • play ball — ► play ball informal cooperate. Main Entry: ↑ball …   English terms dictionary

  • play ball — [v] cooperate agree, be in cahoots, collaborate, comply with, conspire, go along with, join forces, join in, participate, play the game*, pull together, stick together, work together; concepts 110,112 …   New thesaurus

  • play ball — (informal) COOPERATE, collaborate, play the game, show willing, help, lend a hand, assist, contribute; informal pitch in. → play * * * I play a ball game such as baseball we noticed some youngsters playing ball in a vacant lot ■ informal …   Useful english dictionary

  • Play Ball — Infobox animanga/Header name = Play Ball caption = Cover of volume 6 DVD (first season) ja name = プレイボール ja name trans = Purei Bōru genre = Sports (baseball), SchoolInfobox animanga/Manga title = author = Akio Chiba publisher = flagicon|Japan… …   Wikipedia

  • play ball — {v. phr.} 1. To begin play in a ball game. * /When the umpire calls Play ball, the game begins./ 2. {informal} To join in an effort with others; cooperate. * /To get along during Prohibition, many men felt that they had to play ball with… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • play ball — {v. phr.} 1. To begin play in a ball game. * /When the umpire calls Play ball, the game begins./ 2. {informal} To join in an effort with others; cooperate. * /To get along during Prohibition, many men felt that they had to play ball with… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • play ball — informal if you play ball, I can help you Syn: co operate, collaborate, play the game, help, lend a hand, assist, contribute; informal pitch in …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • play ball — verb a) To start anything tumultuous. The politicians refused to play ball with the journalists b) To work together; to cooperate …   Wiktionary

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