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play ball

   Also found in: Wikipedia 0.05 sec.
play ball (informal)
to agree to do what someone asks you to do, or to agree to work with someone in order to achieve something together. Fourteen out of the fifteen nations have agreed to the new restrictions but one country still refuses to play ball. (usually negative)
See also: ball, play
play ball
to agree to do what you have been told or encouraged to do. He was warned to keep his mouth shut and play ball, and that's pretty much what he did.
Usage notes: often used to suggest that you do not approve of what you are told to do
See also: ball, play

play ball (with someone)
to agree to do something the way someone else wants you to. Critics say the agency has been pressured to play ball with drug companies.
Related vocabulary: play along (with someone/something), go along (with someone/something)
Etymology: play ball is said to start a baseball game by the official who controls the game
See also: ball, play
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? References in classic literature
Yes; we used to play ball together in the Caviar Islands.
The Road to Oz by Baum, L. Frank View in context
This did not give him any authority, except now and then he could advise his friends to change their hunting-grounds; but Kotuko used it to domineer a little, in the lazy, fat Inuit fashion, over the other boys, when they came out at night to play ball in the moonlight, or to sing the Child's Song to the Aurora Borealis.
The Second Jungle Book by Kipling, Rudyard View in context
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