play it for all it's worth

verb

to take full advantage of

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Meanings

verbplay it for all it's worth (third-person singular simple present plays it for all it's worth, present participle playing it for all it's worth, simple past and past participle played it for all it's worth)

present singular third person plays it for all it's worth · participle present playing it for all it's worth · participle past played it for all it's worth · past played it for all it's worth

  1. idiomaticto take full advantage of
  2. idiomaticTo go the maximum extent; to go all the way

    I tell you-all boys, when you-all got a hunch, play it for all it's worth. What's luck good for, if you all ain't to ride it? And when you-all ride it, ride like hell.

    1910 October, Jack London, Burning Daylight, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC
Cite this entry
APA

play it for all it's worth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play%20it%20for%20all%20it's%20worth

MLA

“play it for all it's worth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play%20it%20for%20all%20it's%20worth. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “play it for all it's worth,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play%20it%20for%20all%20it's%20worth.

Source: play it for all it's worth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.