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play |
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playIn zoology, actions that have all the elements of purposeful behaviour but are performed for no apparent reason. Play has been documented only among mammals and birds. It is most common among immature animals, but adult animals also play. Horses, cattle, and other ungulates run and kick up their heels even when not fleeing from predators or defending themselves. Dogs adopt an aggressive posture to entice others to join in mock combat. Otters are well known for their mud sliding. Male birds may spontaneously perform their territorial songs when there is no intruding rival. play 1. a dramatic composition written for performance by actors on a stage, on television, etc.; drama 2. a. the performance of a dramatic composition b. (in combination): playreader play [plā] (mechanical engineering) Free or unimpeded motion of an object, such as the motion between poorly fitted or worn parts of a mechanism.
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| However, its context is clearly the value of the efficient use of symbolism, by which "we can make transitions in reasoning almost mechanically by the eye, which otherwise would call into play the higher faculties of the brain. Perhaps nowhere else would the renovation of a corner store - selling groceries and cleaning products and a few shirts and socks - call into play personal and national morality, international relations and the full sweep of 20th-century history. |
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