How to Use play down in a Sentence

play down

verb
  • Rhy made some huge plays down the stretch.
    — Christopher Harris, CBS News, 10 June 2026
  • Mims made big plays down the stretch, too.
    — Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The play down the third-base line is a great play.
    — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2025
  • So many players made big plays down the stretch.
    — Christopher Harris, CBS News, 24 May 2026
  • Maresca played down those reports at the time.
    — ABC News, 19 May 2026
  • Over the rest of the night, Nix hit some plays down the field.
    — Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 19 Oct. 2024
  • But the Valkyries made enough plays down the stretch to seal the win.
    — Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 24 May 2025
  • The Hornets played great and made those plays down the stretch.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Green will need to back up this claim with strong play down the stretch of the season.
    — Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 17 Feb. 2025
  • India’s central bank chief plays down fears of a deposit crunch.
    — Amala Balakrishner, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2024
  • Guys have been making plays down there, finding ways to get into the end zone.
    — Steve Megargee, USA TODAY, 5 Jan. 2024
  • Not playing down the stretch was a function of stiffness.
    — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
  • On the next play down the floor, the person added, Doncic did it again.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 7 June 2025
  • But Rubio played down the issue.
    — Lorne Cook, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2026
  • His ability to make clutch plays down the stretch was once again put on display.
    — Charlotte Observer, 30 Nov. 2025
  • Rutte confirmed the drawdown but played down its impact.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 18 June 2026
  • Sheinbaum, known for her cool, steely demeanor, sought to play down his comments.
    — Mary Beth Sheridan, CNN Money, 9 Jan. 2026
  • There’s so many plays in the sequencing of that big play down there for the goal line fumble.
    — Andrew Gillis, cleveland, 17 Jan. 2023
  • And there are signs there is more to come, if his play down the stretch is any indication.
    — Shayna Goldman, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2026
  • He’s made plays down the field all summer and the Jets don’t have many viable deep threats.
    — Zack Rosenblatt, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2025
  • The Lakers still made plays down the stretch, Reaves hitting a big three.
    — Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2025
  • The writers and creators tried to play down that side and ramp up Lucy’s sense of agency.
    — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 20 June 2025
  • That would seem to bode well for a team that has rarely played down to its competition this season.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
  • Asked by reporters about prospects for a strike that had yet to be declared, Biden tried to play down the risk.
    — Josh Boak, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2023
  • Steph Curry dropped 17 points in the second half and made key plays down the stretch.
    — Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2025
  • The Chiefs know something about playing down a man or two at the position.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 31 Aug. 2025
  • The couple has seemed eager to play down the incident ever since.
    — Mark Landler, New York Times, 30 Nov. 2023
  • Not playing down to the level of competition and things like that.
    — Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 9 Sep. 2023
  • The Lions have the ball at their own 36-yard line with two minutes to play down three points.
    — Greg Rosenstein, NBC News, 9 Sep. 2024
  • Taken together, some type of tax credit for first-time buyers could be in play down the road.
    — Russ Wiles, The Arizona Republic, 29 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'play down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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