play up
— phrasal verb with play uk/pleɪ/us/pleɪ/verb
(CHILD)
UK When children play up, they behave badly:
The boys have been playing up at school again.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Bad and wrong behaviour
- act
- act out
- act up
- angel
- astray
- at your worst idiom
- be no angel idiom
- go off the rails idiom
- go round
- impossible
- incorrigible
- indecorous
- rail
- rough
- sink
- sink to such a level/such depths idiom
- step
- step out of line idiom
- step/be out of line idiom
- terrible twins
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(MACHINE)
If a machine plays up, it does not work as it should:
The starter motor was playing up again.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Machines - Functioning
- asthmatically
- commission
- faulty
- fire sth up
- function as sth/sb
- functionally
- in commission idiom
- operation
- operational
- operative
- order
- pack up
- peg
- perform
- right
- roll
- start
- start (sth) up
- torpor
- work
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