ply

1 of 3

verb (1)

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

ply

3 of 3

verb (2)

plied; plying

transitive verb

: to twist together
ply two single yarns

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
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 Simon was born in Meridian, Mississippi, and began working summers in high school with his father as a plasterer, a trade that Simon would ply for more than 70 years, according to his funeral program. Graham Womack, Sacramento Bee, 22 Feb. 2024 The kennel team started working with Niles to create positive associations with people, working with him daily, plying him with hot dogs and treats and patience. Teri Sforza, Orange County Register, 11 Feb. 2024 Four generations of fishermen in the same family, plying the same Alaskan waters. Laurel Braitman, Bon Appétit, 9 Jan. 2024 Toni Kroos has plied his trade at the Bernabeu since 2014 yet is currently enjoying one of the best seasons of his career as Madrid leads La Liga by six points and has a 1-0 advantage in the Champions League last 16 going into the second leg against RB Leipzig next month. Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 22 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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ply.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of ply was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near ply

Cite this Entry

“Ply.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ply. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ply

1 of 2 verb
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)

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