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play into the hands of

play into the hands of idiom

Act so as to give an advantage to an opponent, as in The senator played right into the hands of her opponents when she backed that unpopular amendment to the tax bill. [c. 1700]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.