play off against

play someone off against (someone else)

to scheme in a manner that pits two of your adversaries against one another. Bill wanted to beat me up and so did Bob. I did some fast talking, and they ended up fighting with each other. I really played Bill off against Bob. The president played the House off against the Senate and ended up getting his own way.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Curran	['kʌrən]
Arianna	ah-RYAHN-nah	Italian
Bronwen	BRAHN-wen	Welsh
Absolon	ab-so-LAWN	French
Kepheus	-	Greek Mythology
Myghal	-	Cornish