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play possum |
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play possum
Fig. to pretend to be inactive, unobservant, asleep, or dead. (The possum refers to an opossum.) I knew that Bob wasn't asleep. He was just playing possum. I can't tell if this animal is dead or just playing possum. See also: play play possum to pretend to be dead or sleeping so that someone will not annoy or attack you I don't think he's really asleep. He's playing possum. See also: play play possum to pretend to be dead or sleeping His younger sister jumped on him because she knew he was just playing possum. Usage notes: usually done so that someone will not annoy or attack you Etymology: from the habit of a possum ( or opossum, a small wild animal) of not moving when in danger See also: play Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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The author survived a bear charge by running; telling the reader about the companion who had to play possum doesn't evoke fear. |
play possum |
play off play off play off play off play off against Play Ogg play on play on Play on Demand play on heartstrings Play on words Play on words play one false Play Online Games Play or pay play out play out play out play out play out play out play out of your skin play over Play Pals play part play participation Play Pen Play Pen Play pleasure play politics play possum play readingplay Russian roulette play safe play safe play safe play safe play safe play safe play scales play scales play scales play scales play scales Play School Play School play second fiddle Play Sequence Descriptor Play Shortcut to Polish Music play silly buggers play something at full blast Play station Play station Play Station 1 Play Streaming Media Group Play That Funky Music play the card play the card play the card play the devil with play the devil with | |||||
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