- play possum
- informal
1) to pretend to be dead or sleeping in order to trick someone2) to pretend not to be involved in something in order to protect yourself
English dictionary. 2014.
play possum
Look at other dictionaries:
play possum — {v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To pretend to be asleep. * /Johnny seemed to be fully asleep, but his mother knew that he was playing possum./ 2. To stay quiet for self protection; try to escape attention by inactivity. * /The rabbit played possum under … Dictionary of American idioms
play possum — {v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To pretend to be asleep. * /Johnny seemed to be fully asleep, but his mother knew that he was playing possum./ 2. To stay quiet for self protection; try to escape attention by inactivity. * /The rabbit played possum under … Dictionary of American idioms
play possum — To pretend to be dead or sleeping. His younger sister jumped on him because she knew he was just playing possum … The small dictionary of idiomes
play possum — ► play possum 1) pretend to be unconscious or dead (as an opossum does when threatened). 2) feign ignorance. Main Entry: ↑possum … English terms dictionary
play possum — verb to pretend to be dead (Freq. 1) • Hypernyms: ↑feign, ↑sham, ↑pretend, ↑affect, ↑dissemble • Verb Frames: Somebody s * * * 1) pretend to be asleep or unconscious wh … Useful english dictionary
play\ possum — v. phr. informal 1. To pretend to be asleep. Johnny seemed to be fully asleep, but his mother knew that he was playing possum. 2. To stay quiet for self protection; try to escape attention by inactivity. The rabbit played possum under the bushes … Словарь американских идиом
play possum — verb a) to feign death; to remain quiet and still to escape attention or remain undetected; to lay low. Thinking fast, we played possum hoping the bear wouldnt bother us. b) to feign sleep, illness, etc. The soldier played possum, fooling the… … Wiktionary
play possum — When someone plays possum, they pretend to be dead or asleep in order to avoid something they don t want to do. Sarah s not asleep. She s just playing possum because she doesn t want to come swimming … English Idioms & idiomatic expressions
play possum — 1》 feign unconsciousness or death (as an opossum does when threatened). 2》 feign ignorance. → possum … English new terms dictionary
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 … New idioms dictionary
To play possum — Possum Pos sum, n. [Shortened from opossum.] (Zo[ o]l.) An opossum. [Colloq. U. S.] [1913 Webster] {To play possum}, {To act possum}, to feign ignorance, indifference or inattention, with the intent to deceive; to dissemble; in allusion to the… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
