play sth ↔ up phr v 1 [T play sth ↔ up] to make something seem better, more important etc than it really is 夸大,渲染: Newspaper reports tried to play up the mystery surrounding Elvis's death. 报纸的报道试图渲染埃尔维斯死亡的神秘性。 2 [I] if children play up, they behave badly 〔儿童〕捣蛋,胡闹