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Definition of ply - 10 dictionary results

ply

1  [plahy] verb, plied, ply⋅ing.
Use ply in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to work with or at diligently; employ busily; use: to ply the needle.
2. to carry on, practice, or pursue busily or steadily: to ply a trade.
3. to treat with or apply to (something) repeatedly (often fol. by with): to ply a fire with fresh fuel.
4. to assail persistently: to ply horses with a whip.
5. to supply with or offer something pressingly to: to ply a person with drink.
6. to address (someone) persistently or importunately, as with questions, solicitations, etc.; importune.
7. to pass over or along (a river, stream, etc.) steadily or on a regular basis: boats that ply the Mississippi.
–verb (used without object)
8. to run or travel regularly over a fixed course or between certain places, as a boat, bus, etc.
9. to perform one's work or office busily or steadily: to ply with the oars; to ply at a trade.
Origin:
1300–50; ME plien, aph. var. of aplien to apply

Related forms:
ply⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
2. follow, exercise.

ply

2  [plahy] noun, plural plies, verb, plied, ply⋅ing.
–noun
1. a thickness or layer.
2. Automotive. a layer of reinforcing fabric for a tire.
3. a unit of yarn: single ply.
4. one of the sheets of veneer that are glued together to make plywood.
5. Informal. plywood.
6. bent, bias, or inclination.
–verb (used with object)
7. British Dialect. to bend, fold, or mold.
–verb (used without object)
8. Obsolete. to bend, incline, or yield.
Origin:
1300–50; ME plien (v.) < MF plier to fold, bend, var. of ployer, OF pleier < L plicāre to fold; see fold 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ply 1   (plī)   
tr.v.   plied (plīd), ply·ing, plies (plīz)
  1. To join together, as by molding or twisting.
  2. To double over (cloth, for example).
n.   pl. plies (plīz)
  1. A layer, as of doubled-over cloth or of paperboard.
  2. One of the sheets of wood glued together to form plywood.
  3. A layer of rubber-coated fabric, often of nylon or polyester cords, forming the body of an automobile tire.
  4. One of the strands twisted together to make yarn, rope, or thread. Often used in combination: three-ply cord.
  5. A bias; an inclination.

[Middle English plien, from Old French plier, alteration of pleier, from Latin plicāre, to fold; see plek- in Indo-European roots.]
ply 2   (plī)   
v.   plied (plīd), ply·ing, plies (plīz)

v.   tr.
  1. To use diligently; wield: ply a knitting needle.
  2. To engage in diligently; practice: plied the carpenter's trade. See Synonyms at handle.
  3. To traverse or sail over regularly: Trading ships plied the routes between coastal ports.
  4. To continue offering something to; ensure that (another) is abundantly served: plied their guests with excellent food.
  5. To assail vigorously.
v.   intr.
  1. To traverse a route or course regularly: The boat plies between the islands on a weekly schedule.
  2. To perform or work diligently or regularly: plied at the weaver's trade for 20 years.
  3. Nautical To work against the wind by a zigzag course; tack.

[Middle English plien, from applien, to apply; see apply.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ply

Ply\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plied; p. pr. & vb. n. Plying.] [OE. plien, F. plier to fold, to bend, fr. L. plicare; akin to Gr. ?, G. 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

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.) To work to windward; to beat.

Ply

Ply\, n. [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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : ply
Spanish: ejercer,
German: ausüben,
Japanese: ～にせいを出す
More Translations »

ply  (v.)
"work with, use," c.1300, shortened form of applien "join to, apply," from O.Fr. aplier, from L. applicare "to attach, apply," from op- "on" + plicare "to lay, fold, twist," from PIE base *plek- "to plait, twist" (cf. Gk. plekein "to plait," L. plectere "to plait, braid, intertwine," O.C.S. plesti "to braid, plait, twist," Goth. flahta "braid"). Sense of "travel regularly" is first 1803.

ply  (n.)
"layer," 1470, from M.Fr. pli "a fold" (13c.), from O.Fr. ploi (12c.), from stem of ployer (later pleier) "to bend, to fold," from L. plicare "to fold, lay" see ply (v.)). Now mainly in plywood (1907), which is called that because the layers are so arranged that the grain of one runs at right angles to that of the next.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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ply mathematics, data
1. Of a node in a tree, the number of branches between that node and the root.
2. Of a tree, the maximum ply of any of its nodes.
(1998-12-29)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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