PLIES

Etymology 1

Noun

plies

plural of ply

Verb

plies

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of ply

Etymology 2

Noun

plies

plural of plie

Anagrams

• Elpis, Lipes, Peils, Piels, Piles, Siple, piles, slipe, spiel, spile

Source: Wiktionary


PLY

Ply, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plied; p. pr. & vb. n. Plying.] Etym: [OE. plien, F. plier to fold, to bend, fr. L. plicare; akin to Gr. flechten. Cf. Apply, Complex, Display, Duplicity, Employ, Exploit, Implicate, Plait, Pliant, Flax.]

1. To bend. [Obs.] As men may warm wax with handes plie. Chaucer.

2. To lay on closely, or in folds; to work upon steadily, or with repeated acts; to press upon; to urge importunately; as, to ply one with questions, with solicitations, or with drink. And plies him with redoubled strokes Dryden. He plies the duke at morning and at night. Shak.

3. To employ diligently; to use steadily. Go ply thy needle; meddle not. Shak.

4. To practice or perform with diligence; to work at. Their bloody task, unwearied, still they ply. Waller.

Ply, v. i.

1. To bend; to yield. [Obs.] It would rather burst atwo than plye. Chaucer. The willow plied, and gave way to the gust. L'Estrange.

2. To act, go, or work diligently and steadily; especially, to do something by repeated actions; to go back and forth; as, a steamer plies between certain ports. Ere half these authors be read (which will soon be with plying hard and daily). Milton. He was forced to ply in the streets as a porter. Addison. The heavy hammers and mallets plied. Longfellow.

3. (Naut.)

Definition: To work to windward; to beat.

Ply, n. Etym: [Cf. F. pli, fr. plier. See Ply, v.]

1. A fold; a plait; a turn or twist, as of a cord. Arbuthnot.

2. Bent; turn; direction; bias. The late learners can not so well take the ply. Bacon. Boswell, and others of Goldsmith's contemporaries, . . . did not understand the secret plies of his character. W. Irving. The czar's mind had taken a strange ply, which it retained to the last. Macaulay.

Note: Ply is used in composition to designate folds, or the number of webs interwoven; as, a three-ply carpet.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest coffee shop is the Al Masaa Café, which has 1,050 seats. The coffee shop was inaugurated in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 13 August 2014.

coffee icon