To act rough and ruthless, especially in politics or business.
So you wanna play hardball?.
To use every means possible to achieve a goal, especially in disregarding the harm caused.
He was more than willing to extend the terms of the loan, but his boss decided to play hardball and demanded a balloon payment.
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Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to play hardball
play both sides against the middleplay by earplay by earPlay Cat and Mouseplay downplay dumbplay dumbplay fast and looseplay fast and loosePlay Fast and Looseplay first fiddleplay for loveplay for timeplay gamesplay gooseberryplay hob withplay hookeyplay hookyplay inplay inplay in Peoriaplay into someone's handsplay it by earplay it by earPlay it by Earplay it coolplay it safeplay it straightplay it straightplay it straight
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"play hardball." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/idioms/play-hardball>.
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