play it for all it's worth - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Verb
play it for all it's worth (third-person singular simple present plays it for all it's worth, present participle playing it for all it's worth, simple past and past participle played it for all it's worth)
- (idiomatic) to take full advantage of
- (idiomatic) To go the maximum extent; to go all the way
1910 October, Jack London, Burning Daylight, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC:
I tell you-all boys, when you-all got a hunch, play it for all it's worth. What's luck good for, if you all ain't to ride it? And when you-all ride it, ride like hell.