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play away

B2 informal intransitive
In simple words

In sport, to play a game at the other team's place; or to secretly have another romantic relationship while you have a partner.

Literal meaning: To play (a game) away (from home) — the sports sense is transparent; the infidelity sense is a metaphorical extension.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

In sport, to play a match at the opposing team's venue or ground.

"Arsenal play away at Manchester City this weekend, which will be a tough test."

2 B2 idiomatic informal

To be sexually unfaithful to a partner (British English euphemism).

"He'd been playing away for months before his wife finally found out."

Usage notes

Two distinct senses: (1) sports — playing a fixture at the opponent's stadium/venue, the opposite of a home game; (2) infidelity — a British euphemism for cheating on a partner, similar to 'playing away from home'. Both senses are British English. The infidelity sense is always euphemistic and usually requires contextual clarity.

Commonly used with

home ground stadium fixture match partner

Forms

Base
play away
I/you/we/they
3rd person
plays away
he/she/it
Past simple
played away
yesterday
Past participle
played away
have + pp
-ing form
playing away
continuous

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Synonyms

play on the road cheat on be unfaithful have an affair two-time

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