PLYING

Etymology

Verb

plying

present participle of ply

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

19 April 2025

CATCH

(verb) grasp with the mind or develop an understanding of; “did you catch that allusion?”; “We caught something of his theory in the lecture”; “don’t catch your meaning”; “did you get it?”; “She didn’t get the joke”; “I just don’t get him”


Do you know this game?

Wordscapes

Wordscapes is a popular word game consistently in the top charts of both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The Android version has more than 10 million installs. This guide will help you get more coins in less than two minutes of playing the game. Continue reading Wordscapes: Get More Coins