plays

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of play.

   He plays defense for the national squad.

   The orchestra plays a new symphony tonight.

   Note

   The agreement form for he, she, it and singular nouns: the orchestra plays, he plays defense. Every verb meaning of play shares it, from having fun to competing against a rival or filling a position on a team. Transitive and intransitive uses take it alike: she plays, she plays chess. Elsewhere in the present the bare form returns: they play, I play.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of play.

   The festival featured plays by emerging local writers.

   Her early plays explored themes of grief and memory.

   Note

   Only the countable meanings of play take this plural: stage works, as in a festival's plays, and the short sequences of action within a game. The uncountable senses have no plural. These include children's amusement, the course of a game, and a ball in play, so "the children's plays" is not idiomatic. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb.

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