PLY

ply

(noun) (usually in combinations) one of several layers of cloth or paper or wood as in plywood

ply

(noun) one of the strands twisted together to make yarn or rope or thread; often used in combination; “three-ply cord”; “four-ply yarn”

ply

(verb) use diligently; “ply your wits!”

provide, supply, ply, cater

(verb) give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance; “The hostess provided lunch for all the guests”

ply

(verb) wield vigorously; “ply an axe”

ply

(verb) join together as by twisting, weaving, or molding; “ply fabric”

ply, run

(verb) travel a route regularly; “Ships ply the waters near the coast”

ply

(verb) apply oneself diligently; “Ply one’s trade”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

ply (countable and uncountable, plural ply or plies or plys)

A layer of material.

A strand that, twisted together with other strands, makes up rope or yarn.

(colloquial) Short for plywood.

(artificial intelligence, combinatorial game theory) In two-player sequential games, a "half-turn" or a move made by one of the players.

(now, chiefly, Scotland) A condition, a state.

Etymology 2

Verb

ply (third-person singular simple present plies, present participle plying, simple past and past participle plied)

(transitive, obsolete) To bend; to fold; to mould; (figuratively) to adapt, to modify; to change (a person's) mind, to cause (a person) to submit.

(intransitive) To bend, to flex; to be bent by something, to give way or yield (to a force, etc.).

Etymology 3

Verb

ply (third-person singular simple present plies, present participle plying, simple past and past participle plied)

(transitive) To work at (something) diligently.

(transitive) To wield or use (a tool, a weapon, etc.) steadily or vigorously.

(transitive) To press upon; to urge persistently.

(transitive) To persist in offering something to, especially for the purpose of inducement or persuasion.

(ambitransitive, transport) To travel over (a route) regularly.

(intransitive, obsolete) To work diligently.

(intransitive, nautical, obsolete) To manoeuvre a sailing vessel so that the direction of the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other; to work to windward, to beat, to tack.

Noun

ply

A bent; a direction.

Source: Wiktionary

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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

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