play up

phrasal verbphr v

a) play something ↔ upEMPHASIZE to emphasize something, sometimes making it seem more important than it really is 强调某事的重要性；夸大某事；大肆渲染某事

Play up your strongest arguments in the opening paragraph.

第一段中就要突出最强有力的论据。

b) play (somebody) upBEHAVE British EnglishBrE informal if children play up, they behave badly 〔孩子〕捣蛋；使（某人）恼火，给（某人）制造麻烦

Jordan’s been playing up in school.

乔丹在学校里老是惹麻烦。

I hope the kids don’t play you up.

我希望孩子们不会给你添麻烦。

c) play (somebody) upHURT/CAUSE PAIN British EnglishBrE informal to hurt you or cause problems for you 使〔某人〕感到痛苦；给〔某人〕造成麻烦

My knee’s been playing me up this week.

这星期我的膝盖一直不舒服。

The car’s playing up again.

车子又出问题了。

Examples from the Corpus

play up• The Prime Minister made great play of environmental issues, considering how little the government has done.• On TV last night the Democratic candidate was clearly playing up his caring image.• At the interview, remember to play up your experience of teaching in Japan.

play upChinese

play up

To behave badly: misbehave, play up, presume...

To exaggerate and overstate: aggrandise, aggrandize, exaggerate...