释义 |
ˌover-ˈplay, v. [over- 27, 22.] 1. a. trans. To play (a part, etc.) to excess; to play too much. So ˈover-ˈplayed ppl. a., ˈover-ˈplaying vbl. n.
16..Sale Houshold-Stuff iv. in 3rd Collect. Poems (1689) 27/1 Here's a Pack of nasty Court Cards, Much foul'd with over-playing. 1819Metropolis I. 183 John offers to box, in a most ridiculous, overplayed manner. 1896Peterson's Mag. Jan. 93/1 He had overplayed his part in a way that was unpardonable. b. fig. To emphasize too much; to attach too great an importance to; spec. in phr. to overplay one's hand, to spoil a good case by exaggerating its value (from Card-playing).
1930Times 27 Mar. 15/3 Conditions are clearly more favourable to agreement..provided only that Nahas Pasha does not over-play his hand. 1933Sun (Baltimore) 16 Aug. 10/7 American newspaper headline writers..‘overplay’ the news for which they write captions. 1952Essays in Crit. II. 325 He [sc. Empson] thinks Tillyard and Dover Wilson..overplayed their hands in attending too exclusively to the ‘official’ explanations of Shakespeare's history plays. 1956A. L. Rowse Early Churchills 269 Here was the one chance of the Allies..thrown away by overplaying their hand. 1960I. Peebles Bowler's Turn 190 Dexter over-played his luck and ran himself out. 1965New Statesman 20 Apr. 673/3 One building society told me that the ‘crisis’ had been ‘very much overplayed’ and that there were already signs of the investment situation easing. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. 29/2 The problem has been overplayed, he said. The recent slump doesn't indicate a trend. 1977F. Durbridge Passenger iii. 146 Judy may have over-played her hand and tried to cut herself in on one of Andy's little rackets. 2. To surpass or overcome in playing; to play better than, and so gain the victory over.
1892Pall Mall G. 4 Aug. 5/2 As in the game at Trent Bridge, they steadily overplayed their formidable opponents. |