遊あそぶ

godan verb (-bu), intransitive verb

mess around; fool around; live loosely

A morally colored or euphemistic use for fooling around with drinking, gambling, romantic affairs, and similar pleasures. Often appears in phrases such as 酒と女で遊ぶ.

• 彼かれは若わかいころ、酒さけと女おんなで遊あそんでいた。

  When he was young, he used to fool around with drinking and women.

godan verb (-bu), intransitive verb

be idle; do nothing; be unused

Used for people not doing useful work, or for land, machines, money, and other resources sitting unused. For inanimate things, 遊んでいる often means there is unused capacity or no current use.

• 忙いそがしいのに、彼かれだけ遊あそんでいる。

  Everyone is busy, but he alone is doing nothing.

• 遊あそんでいる土と地ちを駐ちゅう車しゃ場じょうにした。

  They turned the unused land into a parking lot.

godan verb (-bu), intransitive verb

hang out; meet up with friends

Common in everyday speech for meeting friends and spending time together socially. The pattern 友達と遊ぶ can mean more than literally playing a game.

• 週しゅう末まつ、友とも達だちと渋しぶ谷やで遊あそぶ。

  I’m hanging out with friends in Shibuya this weekend.

godan verb (-bu), intransitive verb

give oneself up to pleasure; indulge in vice

Stronger and more literary or old-fashioned than the casual sense of messing around. It often suggests abandoning responsibility through drink, gambling, or sensual pleasures, as in 酒色に遊ぶ.

• 父ちちは酒しゅ色しょくに遊あそび、家いえを顧かえりみなかった。

  His father gave himself up to drink and women and neglected the family.

godan verb (-bu), intransitive verb

go to for pleasure or study; travel to

Limited to the pattern 〜に遊ぶ. This is literary or old-fashioned in modern Japanese; everyday speech would usually use 遊びに行く or 留学する depending on the context.

• 若わかき日ひ、彼かれは京きょうに遊あそび、多おおくの学がく者しゃに会あった。

  In his youth, he went to Kyoto and met many scholars.

godan verb (-bu), intransitive verb

tease; toy with

Rare as an independent modern use. The related verb もてあそぶ is the normal word for toying with, manipulating, or trifling with someone or something.

See also: 弄ぶ

• 古ふるい用よう法ほうでは、「遊あそぶ」が人ひとをからかう意い味みで使つかわれることがある。

  In older usage, 遊ぶ can be used to mean teasing someone.

godan verb (-bu), intransitive verb

throw a waste pitch; throw off the batter’s concentration

Baseball term. Used when a pitcher intentionally throws a ball outside the main contestable zone, often to disrupt the batter’s timing or concentration.

• 投とう手しゅはカウントに余よ裕ゆうがあったので、一いっ球きゅう遊あそんだ。

  The pitcher had room in the count, so he wasted one pitch.