player

player — noun

1. anyone who plays a sport, board game, card game, or video game — either for fun,

1.名詞A1
釋義

anyone who plays a sport, board game, card game, or video game — either for fun, as part of a team, or as their job.

例句

Maya is the youngest player on her school basketball team.

player on [team]

Each chess player has only ten minutes to finish the whole game.

[game] player

同義詞
  • competitor

    stresses rivalry; used in contests with prizes

  • athlete

    only for sports, not card or board games

  • gamer

    informal; usually only video games

反義詞
  • spectator

    someone who watches rather than plays

  • coach

    someone who trains the players from the sideline

文法句型

[N] of [team/sport]

[adj] + player

用法筆記

Often modified by a sport or game word: 'football player', 'poker player', 'video game player'. The activity word goes directly before 'player', without 'of'.

常見錯誤

❌She is a player of football.
✅She is a football player.
💡the sport name comes before 'player' as a compound, not after with 'of'.

2. anyone whose hobby or profession is making music on an instrument such as a guit

2.名詞A2
釋義

anyone whose hobby or profession is making music on an instrument such as a guitar, piano, or violin.

例句

Lina has been a piano player since she was four years old.

[instrument] player

The jazz band is looking for a new bass player and a drummer.

looking for a [instrument] player

同義詞
  • musician

    broader; includes singers and composers, not just instrument players

  • instrumentalist

    formal; mainly used in classical music contexts

文法句型

[instrument] + player

[adj] + player

用法筆記

Formed by putting the instrument name directly before 'player': 'flute player', 'drum player', 'guitar player'. For some instruments a more specific word is preferred (e.g. 'pianist' instead of 'piano player', 'drummer' instead of 'drum player'), but 'X player' is always acceptable.

常見錯誤

❌She is a player of guitar.
✅She is a guitar player.
💡the instrument name comes before 'player' as a compound; 'of' is wrong here.

3. a piece of equipment, app, or software whose only job is to play back recorded s

3.名詞A2
釋義

a piece of equipment, app, or software whose only job is to play back recorded sound or video files for the user.

例句

Grandpa keeps an old CD player on the wooden bookshelf next to his armchair.

[media] + player

Marcus rebooted the DVD player twice, but the disc tray still refused to open.

[device] player + verb

同義詞
  • device

    general; any electronic gadget, not specifically for media

  • deck

    informal; mostly for tape or record players

反義詞
  • recorder

    a machine that captures sound or video, the opposite function

文法句型

[media-type] + player

用法筆記

Almost always preceded by the type of media or format: 'CD player', 'DVD player', 'MP3 player', 'music player', 'video player'. Bare 'a player' for a device is unclear without context.

常見錯誤

❌I bought a new player yesterday.
✅I bought a new MP3 player yesterday.
💡name the format or media type, otherwise 'player' will be read as a person.

4. a person, company, or country whose actions matter a lot in a certain field, mar

4.名詞B2
釋義

a person, company, or country whose actions matter a lot in a certain field, market, or event — someone other people have to pay attention to.

例句

Samsung is now a major player in the global chip market.

major player in [market]

Small farms cannot compete with the big players in the dairy industry.

big players in [industry]

同義詞
  • stakeholder

    someone with a financial or strategic interest, not always influential

  • force

    as in 'a force in the industry'; emphasises power and impact

反義詞
  • outsider

    someone with little influence in the field

文法句型

[adj] + player + in [field/deal]

key/major/big player

用法筆記

Almost always preceded by an adjective like 'key', 'major', 'big', 'main', or 'leading', and followed by 'in' + the field. Bare 'a player in business' sounds incomplete; use 'a big player in business'.

常見錯誤

❌Our company is a player in the market.
✅Our company is a major player in the market.
💡this sense almost always needs an adjective like 'major' or 'key' before 'player'.

5. a person whose job is to perform parts in plays — an older or literary word for

5.名詞C1
釋義

a person whose job is to perform parts in plays — an older or literary word for an actor.

例句

In Shakespeare's day, every player on the London stage was a man.

literary register

The director gathered all the players for one last reading of the script.

the players (collective)

同義詞
  • actor

    the standard modern term; covers all eras and media

  • performer

    broader; includes singers, dancers, comedians too

文法句型

[N]

the players

用法筆記

Now mainly literary or historical. In modern speech, use 'actor'. Distinguish from sense 1 (sport/game) by context: theatre, drama, or Shakespeare cues.

常見錯誤

❌My favourite Hollywood player is Tom Hanks.
✅My favourite Hollywood actor is Tom Hanks.
💡for modern film and TV, 'actor' is the natural word; 'player' here sounds old-fashioned.

6. the word used inside the official name of certain drama groups or theatre compan

6.名詞C2
釋義

the word used inside the official name of certain drama groups or theatre companies, usually after a place or family name.

例句

The Tainan Players will perform 'A Doll's House' next Friday at the city hall.

[Place] Players (proper noun)

Grandma joined the Riverside Players in 1965 and acted with them for thirty years.

joined the [Name] Players

同義詞
  • company

    as in 'theatre company'; the modern equivalent in names

  • troupe

    small group of performers who travel together

文法句型

[Place] Players

the [Name] Players

用法筆記

Only appears as part of a proper name, always capitalised and almost always plural. Cannot be used alone as a common noun in this sense.

常見錯誤

❌There are many players in our town.' (meaning theatre groups)
✅There are many drama groups in our town.
💡'Players' in the theatre-name sense only works inside an actual company name like 'the Riverside Players'.