play someone false

play someone false (third-person singular simple present plays someone false, present participle playing someone false, simple past and past participle played someone false)

1. To betray someone; to be disloyal to someone.
   • 1893, E. Werner, Clear the Track!, page 94:

     And yet she was ensnaringly beautiful, despite her pride and self-consciousness; radiant and certain of conquest she stood before the man who alone seemed to have neither eye nor ear for charms that had never elsewhere played her false.