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play possum

To feign death; to remain quiet and still to escape attention or remain undetected; to lay low.

Etymology:

  • English play + possum, from the behaviour of the Virginia opossum, feigning death when threatened. First documented 1822.
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“

To keep the focus away from his client, the lawyer basically played possum during the entire complex trial, and his tactic paid off with an acquittal.

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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'play possum':

play possumTo dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive.
play possumTo feign sleep, illness, etc.
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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to play possum

play old harryplay the anglesplay the gender cardplay one against anotherplay someone like a fiddleplay the ball and not the manplay outplay Old GooseberryPlay the Fieldplay Old Gooseberryplay the fieldplay silly buggersplay outplay one's cards right

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    "play possum." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/play-possum_6153>.

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