ply in English
- ply⇄noun 1. a thickness or fold.
(SYN) layer.
2. a strand or twist of cord, yarn, or thread.
Ex. Three-ply rope is made of three twists.
3. (Figurative.) an inclination of mind; tendency of character. - ply⇄ply (1), verb, plied,plying.
- ply⇄ply (2), noun, pl.plies,verb, plied,plying.
- ply⇄v.i. 1. to work busily or steadily.
Ex. Soon all the boats ... were dropped ... all the paddles plying (Herman Melville).
2. to go back and forth regularly between certain places.
Ex. The bus plies from the station to the hotel. - ply⇄v.t. (Dialect.)
1. to bend, fold, or shape.
2. (Obsolete.) to adapt. - ply⇄v.t. (Obsolete.)
1. to bend or yield. - ply⇄v.t. 1. to work with; use.
Ex. The dressmaker plies her needle.
(SYN) employ.
2. to keep up work on; work at or on.
Ex. to ply one's trade. We plied the water with our oars.
3. (Figurative.) to urge again and again.