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Webster 1913 Edition

Ply

Ply

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Plied
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Plying
.]
[OE.
plien
, F.
plier
to fold, to bend, fr. L.
plicare
; akin to Gr. [GREEK], 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.
Shakespeare
3.
To employ diligently; to use steadily.
Go
ply
thy needle; meddle not.
Shakespeare
4.
To practice or perform with diligence; to work at.
Their bloody task, unwearied, still they
ply
.
Waller.

Ply

,
Verb.
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

,
Noun.
[Cf. F.
pli
, fr.
plier
. See
Ply
,
Verb.
]
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.
☞ Ply is used in composition to designate folds, or the number of webs interwoven; as, a three-ply carpet.

Webster 1828 Edition

Ply

PLY

,
Verb.
T.
[Gr. to fold; L. plico.]
1.
To lay on, to put to or on with force and repetition; to apply to closely, with continuation of efforts or urgency.
And plies him with redoubled strokes.
The hero from afar
Plies him with darts and stones.
We retain the precise sense in the phrase to lay on, to put it on him.
2.
To employ with diligence; to apply closely and steadily; to keep busy.
Her gentle wit she plies.
The wearied Trojans ply their shattered oars.
3.
To practice or perform with diligence.
Their bloody task, unweari'd, still they ply.
4.
To urge; to solicit with pressing or persevering importunity.
He plies the duke at morning and at night.
5.
To urge; to press; to strain; to force.

PLY

,
Verb.
I.
To bend; to yield.
The willow plied and gave way to the gust.
1.
To work steadily.
He was forced to ply in the streets.
2.
To go in haste.
Thither he plies undaunted.
3.
To busy one's self; to be steadily employed.
4.
To endeavor to make way against the wind.

PLY

,
Noun.
A fold; a plait.
1.
Bent; turn; direction; bias.
The late learners cannot so well take the ply.

Definition 2024

ply

ply

English

Noun

ply ‎(plural plies)

  1. A layer of material.
    two-ply toilet paper‎
  2. A strand that, twisted together with other strands, makes up yarn or rope.
  3. (colloquial) plywood.
  4. (artificial intelligence, game theory) In two-player sequential games, a "half-turn", or one move made by one of the players.
    He proposed to build Deep Purple, a super-computer capable of 24-ply look-ahead for chess.
  5. (now chiefly Scotland) State, condition.
    • 1749, John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, Penguin 1985, p. 66:
      You may be sure, in the ply I was now taking, I had no objection to the proposal, and was rather a-tiptoe for its accomplishment.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle English plien ‎(“bend, fold, mold”), a borrowing from Middle French plier ‎(“bend, fold”), see Etymology 1.

Verb

ply ‎(third-person singular simple present plies, present participle plying, simple past and past participle plied)

  1. (transitive) to bend; to fold.
    • L'Estrange
      The willow plied, and gave way to the gust.
  2. (intransitive) to flex.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English plien, short for applien ‎(“apply”)

Verb

ply ‎(third-person singular simple present plies, present participle plying, simple past and past participle plied)

  1. (transitive) To work at diligently.
    He plied his trade as carpenter for forty-three years.
    • Waller
      Their bloody task, unwearied, still they ply.
  2. (intransitive) To work diligently.
    • Milton
      Ere half these authors be read (which will soon be with plying hard and daily).
    • Addison
      He was forced to ply in the streets as a porter.
  3. (transitive) To use vigorously.
    He plied his ax with bloody results.
  4. (transitive) To travel over regularly.
    ply the seven seas
    A steamer plies between certain ports.
  5. (transitive) To persist in offering.
    • 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House Is Built, Chapter VII, Section vi
      Esther began […] to cry. But when the fire had been lit specially to warm her chilled limbs and Adela had plied her with hot negus she began to feel rather a heroine.
    She plied him with liquor.
  6. To press upon; to urge importunately.
    to ply one with questions, with solicitations, or with drink
    • Shakespeare
      He plies the duke at morning and at night.
  7. To employ diligently; to use steadily.
    • Shakespeare
      Go ply thy needle; meddle not.
  8. (nautical) To work to windward; to beat.
Translations

Etymology

From Middle English, a borrowing from Middle French pli ‎(“pleat, fold”), from plier ‎(“bend, fold”), from Latin plicō ‎(“I fold, I fold together”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /plaɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ

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