ply

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English plien (v.) < Middle French plier to fold, bend, variant of ployer, Old French pleier < Latin plicāre to fold; see fold¹

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World English Dictionary

ply¹ (plaɪ)

—vb , plies, plying, plied
1.	to carry on, pursue, or work at (a job, trade, etc)
2.	to manipulate or wield (a tool)
3.	to sell (goods, wares, etc), esp at a regular place
4.	(usually foll by with) to provide (with) or subject (to) repeatedly or persistently: he plied us with drink the whole evening; to ply a horse with a whip; he plied the speaker with questions
5.	(intr) to perform or work steadily or diligently: to ply with a spade
6.	(also intr) (esp of a ship) to travel regularly along (a route) or in (an area): to ply between Dover and Calais; to ply the trade routes

[C14 plye, short for aplye to apply]

ply² (plaɪ)

—n , pl plies
1.	a. a layer, fold, or thickness, as of cloth, wood, yarn, etc
	b. (in combination): four-ply
2.	a thin sheet of wood glued to other similar sheets to form plywood
3.	one of the strands twisted together to make rope, yarn, etc

—vb
4.	to twist together (two or more single strands) to make yarn

[C15: from Old French pli fold, from plier to fold, from Latin plicāre]

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

ply

"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

"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.

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

ply definition

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)

Example sentences

If she tolerates his company, he will ply her with fresh fish, directing them

headfirst into her beak.

With that high-tech grace-note, a new sort of airship could soon safely ply the

ocean blue.

Some jurisdictions still ply this trade today and should be put out of business.

Single-ply toilet paper is advised because it breaks up easier than thicker

two-ply.

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Matching Quote

"Until the end of the Middle Ages, and in many cases afterwards too, in order to obtain initiation in a trade of any sort whatever—whether that of courtier, soldier, administrator, merchant or workman—a boy did not amass the knowledge necessary to ply that trade before entering it, but threw himself into it; he then acquired the necessary knowledge."

-Philippe Ariés