ply

Definitions

1. 1.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.
2. 2.To employ diligently; to use steadily. Go ply thy needle; meddle not. Shak.
3. 3.To practice or perform with diligence; to work at. Their bloody task, unwearied, still they ply. Waller.
4. 4.To bend; to yield. [Obs.] It would rather burst atwo than plye. Chaucer. The willow plied, and gave way to the gust. L'Estrange.
5. 5.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.
6. 6.(Naut.) To work to windward; to beat.
7. 7.A fold; a plait; a turn or twist, as of a cord. Arbuthnot.
8. 8.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.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "ply" mean?
• What is another word for "ply"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is ply.

• What is to employ diligently; to use steadily. Go ply thy needle; meddle not. Shak called?
• What is to practice or perform with diligence; to work at. Their bloody task, unwearied, still they ply. Waller called?
• What is to bend; to yield. [Obs.] It would rather burst atwo than plye. Chaucer. The willow plied, and gave way to the gust. L'Estrange called?
• What is a fold; a plait; a turn or twist, as of a cord. Arbuthnot called?