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

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Later, Chinese fishermen also began plying Thitu's waters, occasionally hauling off live corals and endangered giant clams. —Emily Feng, NPR, 11 Apr. 2024

The accusations According to the sheriff’s office, Chitty plied the 15-year-old girl with alcohol and molested her while she was passed out March 3 on a couch inside his church, First Baptist, 200 62nd St. in the Marathon. —David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2024

De Silva plays in the fifth tier of English soccer and Kelaart plies his trade in Iceland’s second division. —Robert Kidd, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

To other attorneys who ply their trade in these courtrooms, the preeminence of Willis was simply a fact. —Mya Frazier, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024

Ships and sailings to know: This cruise line has plied Alaskan waters for more than 75 years, with seven ships sailing 6-19 day itineraries from May to September 2024. —Janice Wald Henderson, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Mar. 2024

There, her father, an electrician, and her mother, an embroiderer, plied their trades at Hollywood studios. —Margalit Fox, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2024

Forty different species of slugs, most of them invasive and most nocturnal, ply the damp, shady realms of North America’s leafy habitats. —Paul Richards, Field & Stream, 29 Feb. 2024

Born in Italy and raised in Ohio, the right winger is following in the footsteps of fellow American Folarin Balogun by plying his trade in Ligue 1, a league known for developing top talent and shipping it off to more lucrative pastures. —Vitas Carosella, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024

Noun

Soft, diaphanous curtains soften the incoming sunlight and offer a textural counterpoint to the cold, grey concrete walls and the pale birch ply. —Kimberley Mok, Treehugger, 29 Aug. 2023

There’s a ply problem — at least, Canadian filmmaker Michael Zelniker believes so. —Meredith Woerner, Variety, 31 Aug. 2023

The latter refers to the number of threads twisted together to form a piece of yarn; the higher the ply, the stronger the yarn. —Paula Lee, Glamour, 30 Aug. 2023

Cross-stitch instructions indicate how many plies of floss should be used to complete a project. —Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2023

Getting around, by the way, is a breeze: Water taxis ply Lake Boca Raton, ferrying a handful of people at a time, on a regular schedule, between Harborside and Beachside. —Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, 25 July 2023

From there, several plies and belts of different rubbers — some embedded with polyester, nylon and steel — were laid on top and pressed together to build the body of the tire. —Michael Grabell, ProPublica, 3 May 2023

Lovette and Inoue fell into deep plies on pointe, inching across the stage like spiders. —Steven Vargas, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2023

Your Questions, Answered What is the best thread count for cotton sheets? Thread count refers to the number of threads, or plies, woven into the fabric of sheets in either direction. —Kathleen Felton, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Mar. 2023

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

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)