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."
play away
B2 informal intransitive
To play a sports match at the opponent's ground; or to be sexually unfaithful to a partner.
In plain English
In sport, to play a game at the other team's place; or to secretly have another romantic relationship while you have a partner.
What does "play away" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
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."
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To play (a game) away (from home) — the sports sense is transparent; the infidelity sense is a metaphorical extension.
Actually means
In sport, to play a game at the other team's place; or to secretly have another romantic relationship while you have a partner.
Usage tip
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.
Words that pair with "play away"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
home ground stadium fixture match partner
How to conjugate "play away"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
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
Hear "play away" in the wild
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Other ways to say "play away"
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