ply

1 of 3

verb (1)

ˈplī 

plied; plying

transitive verb

1

a

: to use or wield diligently

busily plying his pen

b

: to practice or perform diligently

ply a trade

2

: to keep furnishing or supplying something to

plied us with liquor

3

a

: to make a practice of rowing or sailing over or on

the boat plies the river

b

: to go or travel regularly over, on, or through

jets plying the skies

intransitive verb

1

: to apply oneself steadily

2

: to go or travel regularly

ply

2 of 3

noun

plural plies

1

a

: one of several layers (as of cloth) usually sewn or laminated together

b

: one of the strands in a yarn

c

: one of the veneer sheets forming plywood

d

: a layer of a paper or cardboard

2

: inclination, bias

ply

3 of 3

verb (2)

plied; plying

transitive verb

: to twist together

ply two single yarns

Synonyms

Verb (1)

• apply
• exercise
• exert
• put out
• wield

Noun

• bias
• favor
• nonobjectivity
• one-sidedness
• parti pris
• partiality
• partisanship
• prejudice
• tendentiousness

Verb (2)

• enlace
• entwine
• implicate [archaic]
• interlace
• intertwine
• intertwist
• interweave
• inweave
• lace
• twist
• weave
• wreathe
• writhe

Examples of ply in a Sentence

Verb (1)

she plied all of her charm and intelligence to convince everyone to volunteer as tutors

Noun

a single ply of fabric

since taking a ply to French burgundies, he's hardly even looked at anything else in the wine store

Verb (2)

two single yarns were plied together to get the fabric that smooth, firm feel

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Although the Loire is France’s longest river, traditional river boats can’t ply its shallow waters. —Jeri Clausing, AFAR Media, 10 Apr. 2025

Many of the team’s former star players now ply their trade in the WNBA – such as A’Ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston and Kamilla Cardoso – and the current Gamecock squad has been taking advantage of the ties with those talented alums. —Ben Morse, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2025

Noun

As such, birch ply sees a return to favor, with many of the components being fashioned from the popular build material. —New Atlas, 25 Feb. 2025

Fortunately, companies and brands that use premium cashmere will usually have information on their websites; generally speaking, the more details provided — length of fibers, ply, and gauge — the better the sweater. —Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 10 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English plien "to put on, around or over, use," aphetic form of aplien, applien "to join, combine, use for a certain purpose, apply"

Noun

borrowed from French pli "fold, pleat, crease," going back to Old French plei, pli "joint in armor, fold," noun derivative from pleier, plier "to fold, bend" — more at ply entry 3

Verb (2)

Middle English plien "to bend, fold, be capable of bending, be flexible, make submissive, be submissive," borrowed from Anglo-French pleier, plaier, ploier, plier "to fold, bend, (intransitive) bend, bow down, sag" (also continental Old French), going back to Latin plicāre "to fold, bend," back-formation from -plicāre in compounds such as applicāre "to bring into contact (with)," complicāre "to fold together," explicāre "to free from folds, straighten," implicāre "to fold about itself, entwine," replicāre "to fold back on itself," formed from a stem *-plec-, probably a variant, without the formative -t-, of the stem of plectere "to plait, twine," going back to Indo-European *pleḱ-t-, whence also Germanic *flehtan- "to braid, plait" (whence Old Saxon & Old High German flehtan "to plait, weave together," Old Icelandic flétta; in nominal derivation Old English flehta "wickerwork," flohtenfōte "web-footed," Gothic flahta "braid"), Old Church Slavic pletǫ, plesti "to weave (intrigues)"; from *pleḱ- alone in Greek plékein "to plait, braid, weave," with nominal derivatives in Greek plokḗ "weaving," plókos "braid, lock," Sanskrit praśna- "turban" and perhaps Avestan ərəzatō.frašna- "having a golden helmet/coat of mail"

Note: Latin plicāre developed regularly to Old French pleier, later ploier (Modern French ployer "to bend, bow"). The parallel medieval French verb plier (Modern French plier "to fold") arose by analogy with verbs such as prier "to ask," from Latin precārī, which had variants with -i- and -ei- depending on where stress fell on inflected forms, leading to generalization of one or the other form throughout the paradigm. In the case of pleier/ploier, the invasive form pli- first appeared under stress and later spread to unstressed forms. Older ploier was never displaced, however, and the maintenance of both forms lead to two independent verbs with slightly different senses. — In addition to forming the base of -plicāre in applicāre (see apply), complicāre (see complicate entry 2), explicāre (see explicate), implicāre (see implicate, imply), replicāre (see replicate entry 1, reply entry 1), the Latin stem *plec- may also be the second element of nominal compounds such as duplic-. duplex "folded double, having two parts" (see duplex entry 1), simplic-, simplex "consisting of one element" (see simple entry 1), etc. Ernout and Meillet (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine) refer to -plicāre as an "intensive" ("un intensif") relative to plectere. Slavic *pletǫ (in the Old Church Slavic form cited above) must go back to *plek-t-, as the root with the palatovelar would result in an unattested *plestǫ. Alternatively, pletǫ could represent *ple-t- and be allied with Germanic *falþan- (see fold entry 1); this is the suggestion of Ernout and Meillet.

First Known Use

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

1532, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (2)

circa 1909, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing ply

• bias-ply tire
• multi-ply
• ply for hire/business/trade
• ply one's trade
• ply one's wares
• ply with
• three-ply
• two-ply

Rhymes for ply

• ai
• aye
• bae
• bi
• buy
• by
• bye
• chai
• chi
• cry
• die
• dry

Kids Definition

ply

1 of 2 verb

ˈplī 

plied; plying

1

a

: to use steadily or forcefully

ply an ax

b

: to work at

ply one's trade

2

: to keep furnishing or supplying something to

ply a guest with food

3

: to go or travel regularly

ply

2 of 2 noun

plural plies

: one of the folds, layers, or strands of which something (as yarn or plywood) is made up

Etymology

Verb

Middle English plien, a shortened form of applien "to apply"

Noun

Middle English plien "to fold," from early French plier (same meaning), from Latin plicare (same meaning)