wordplay

Everyday

Wordplay is a clever or funny use of words, such as puns, rhymes or words with two meanings. tree →

In the lessons

Used in English lessons and jokes: puns, riddles, tongue twisters, spoonerisms, crossword clues; writers like Roald Dahl and Lewis Carroll use a lot of wordplay.

Examples

• The joke «Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine» uses wordplay. tree →
• Roald Dahl loved wordplay and invented new words. tree →
• The riddle depended on wordplay. tree →
• Crossword clues often use wordplay. tree →
• Our class wrote poems full of wordplay. tree →
• The comedian's wordplay made everyone groan and laugh. tree →

Note

Uncountable: «a lot of wordplay», not «wordplays». A single example is «a pun» or «a play on words».