[syn: ply, run]
4. join together as by twisting, weaving, or molding;
- Example: "ply fabric"
5. wield vigorously;
- Example: "ply an axe"
6. use diligently;
- Example: "ply your wits!"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ply \Ply\, v. i.
1. To bend; to yield. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
It would rather burst atwo than plye. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
The willow plied, and gave way to the gust.
--L'Estrange.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Ere half these authors be read (which will soon be
with plying hard and daily). --Milton.
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He was forced to ply in the streets as a porter.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
The heavy hammers and mallets plied. --Longfellow.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Naut.) To work to windward; to beat.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ply \Ply\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plied; p. pr. & vb. n.
Plying.] [OE. plien, F. plier to fold, to bend, fr. L.
plicare; akin to Gr. ?, G. flechten. Cf. Apply, Complex,
Display, Duplicity, Employ, Exploit, Implicate,
Plait, Pliant, Flax.]
1. To bend. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
As men may warm wax with handes plie. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
And plies him with redoubled strokes --Dryden.
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He plies the duke at morning and at night. --Shak.
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3. To employ diligently; to use steadily.
[1913 Webster]
Go ply thy needle; meddle not. --Shak.
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4. To practice or perform with diligence; to work at.
[1913 Webster]
Their bloody task, unwearied, still they ply.
--Waller.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ply \Ply\, n. [Cf. F. pli, fr. plier. See Ply, v.]
1. A fold; a plait; a turn or twist, as of a cord.
--Arbuthnot.
[1913 Webster]
2. Bent; turn; direction; bias.
[1913 Webster]
The late learners can not so well take the ply.
--Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
Boswell, and others of Goldsmith's contemporaries, .
. . did not understand the secret plies of his
character. --W. Irving.
[1913 Webster]
The czar's mind had taken a strange ply, which it
retained to the last. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Ply is used in composition to designate folds, or the
number of webs interwoven; as, a three-ply carpet.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
ply
n 1: one of the strands twisted together to make yarn or rope or
thread; often used in combination; "three-ply cord"; "four-
ply yarn"
2: (usually in combinations) one of several layers of cloth or
paper or wood as in plywood
v 1: give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or
sustenance; "The hostess provided lunch for all the guests"
[syn: provide, supply, ply, cater]
2: apply oneself diligently; "Ply one's trade"
3: travel a route regularly; "Ships ply the waters near the
coast" [syn: ply, run]
4: join together as by twisting, weaving, or molding; "ply
fabric"
5: wield vigorously; "ply an axe"
6: use diligently; "ply your wits!"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
242 Moby Thesaurus words for "ply":
about ship, apply pressure, back and fill, bear away, bear off,
bear to starboard, beat, beat about, beat to windward, beset,
besiege, blandish, boat, box off, break, bring about, bring round,
bug, buttonhole, cajole, canoe, cant, cant round, carry sail, cast,
cast about, change course, change the heading, circumnavigate,
close-haul, coast, coat, coating, coax, collop, come about,
come in contact, course, cover, covering, crease, creasing, crimp,
crisp, cross, cruise, cut, deal, disk, dispense, do, do with,
dog-ear, double, double a point, double over, doubling, dun,
duplicature, employ, enfold, exercise, exert, exert pressure, feel,
feel of, fetch about, feuille, film, finger, flap, flection,
flexure, flick, flounce, flute, foil, fold, fold over, force upon,
frill, function, gather, go about, go by ship, go on shipboard,
go over, go to sea, gybe, handle, heave round, importune, infold,
insist, interfold, jibe, jibe all standing, lamella, lamina,
laminated glass, laminated wood, lap, lap over, lapel, lappet,
leaf, luff, luff up, make a passage, make use of, manage, maneuver,
manipulate, measure, membrane, miss stays, motorboat, nag, nag at,
navigate, operate, overpass, palm, palpate, pane, panel, pass over,
pass through, patina, patrol, paw, peel, pellicle, perambulate,
peregrinate, pererrate, pester, pinch, plague, plait, plank, plat,
plate, plating, play, pleat, plica, plicate, plication, plicature,
ply upon, plywood, poke at, practice, press, press upon, pressure,
prod, push, push upon, put about, put back, put forth, put out,
quill, range, range over, rasher, reconnoiter, round a point, row,
ruche, ruching, ruff, ruffle, run, safety glass, sail, sail fine,
sail round, sail the sea, scour, scour the country, scout, scull,
scum, seafare, sheer, sheet, shift, skin, slab, slat, slew, slice,
steam, steamboat, sweep, swerve, swing, swing round,
swing the stern, table, tablet, tack, take a voyage, tap, tease,
throw, throw about, thrust upon, thumb, touch, touch the wind,
track, transit, travel over, travel through, traverse, tuck, turn,
turn back, turn over, twiddle, twill, urge, urge upon, use,
utilize, veer, veneer, voyage, wafer, wear, wear ship, wheedle,
wield, wind, work, work on, yacht, yaw
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
ply
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)