player
Pluralplayers
- 1Someone who plays a game or sport.
Like one of the kids running around in a soccer match.
Each player on the team trained hard before the match.
The coach praised her players after the big win.
UsagePut the sport first: a tennis player, a chess player.
Similarcompetitor
- 2A person, company, or group that takes part in an activity or event.
Every player in the deal had something to gain.
Small companies can still be important players in the market.
UsageOften with words like key or big: a key player, a big player in the market.
Similarparticipant, figure
Note
- 3A machine or app that plays recorded sound or video.
Like a music box that plays a tune when you wind it up.
She loaded a new disc into the player.
Old CD players still work fine for most people.
Note
- 4Someone who plays a musical instrument.
Each player tuned an instrument before the concert.
The band needs two more players for the brass section.
UsagePut the instrument first: a piano player, a guitar player.
Similarmusician, instrumentalist, performer
Less common meanings
- 5Someone who dates many people instead of settling into one serious relationship.
Her friends warned her that he was a player.
Real players never stay with one partner for long.
UsageUsually not nice: calling someone a player is often a warning.
Similarphilanderer, seducer, libertine, rake
Note
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- 8A person or thing that plays.
Our puppy is a happy player and never stops chasing toys.
My son is a quiet player and can build with blocks for hours.
Note
- 9Someone who is playful and not serious, or who just wastes time.
Similardilettante, trifler, idler, dabbler
- 10Someone who takes part in a particular kind of sexual activity.
- 11A device that makes a piano or similar instrument play by itself.
A Technical Treatise on Piano Player Mechanism" contains detailed description of the various types of interior and exterior players, embracing manual, pneumatic, automatic, mechanical and electric
1909, William Braid White, Regulation and Repair of Piano and Player MechanismHere, players means the machinery that makes a piano play by itself.
Practice
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Origin
From an Old English word meaning "player" or "athlete." It comes from "play" plus the ending "-er."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Player derives from an Old English word meaning player or athlete. en.wiktionary.org
- The word combines play with the agent ending -er. en.wiktionary.org