ply.
A layer of material.
Meaning & usage
A layer of material.
two-ply toilet paper
A strand that, twisted together with other strands, makes up rope or yarn.
Clipping of plywood.
In two-player sequential games, a "half-turn" or a move made by one of the players.
He proposed to build Deep Purple, a super-computer capable of 24-ply look-ahead for chess.
A condition, a state.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English pleit, plit, plite (“a fold, pleat, wrinkle; braid, strand in a braided cord, ply”), from Anglo-Norman pli, plei, pleit, and Middle French pli, ploy, ply (“a fold, pleat; joint in armour; situation, state”) (modern French pli (“a fold, pleat”)), from plier, ployer (“to bend, fold”), from Latin plicāre (“to bend, fold, roll up”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to fold, plait, weave”).
To bend; to fold; to mould; (figuratively) to adapt, to modify; to change (a person's) mind, to cause (a person) to submit.
To bend, to flex; to be bent by something, to give way or yield (to a force, etc.).
Where this word comes from
From Middle English plīen, pli, plie (“to bend, fold, mould, shape; to be flexible; to be submissive, humble oneself; to compel someone to submit”), from Anglo-Norman plier, plaier, pleier, ploier, and Middle French plier, ployer (“to bend, fold; to be submissive; to compel someone to submit”) (modern French plier, ployer), from Old French ploiier, pleier (“to fold”), from Latin plicāre (“to fold”); see further at etymology 1. The word is cognate with Catalan plegar (“to bend, fold”), Italian piegare (“to bend, fold, fold up”), Old Occitan plegar, plejar, pleyar (“to fold”) (modern Occitan plegar), Spanish plegar (“to fold”).
To work at (something) diligently.
He plied his trade as carpenter for forty-three years.
To wield or use (a tool, a weapon, etc.) steadily or vigorously.
He plied his ax with bloody results.
To press upon; to urge persistently.
to ply someone with questions or solicitations
To persist in offering something to, especially for the purpose of inducement or persuasion.
to ply someone with drink
To travel over (a route) regularly.
to ply the seven seas
The steamer plies between several ports on the coast.
To work diligently.
To manoeuvre a sailing vessel so that the direction of the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other; to work to windward, to beat, to tack.
Where this word comes from
From apply; compare Middle English plīen, pli, plie, pleie (“to place (something) around, on, or over, to cover; to apply, use; to strive”), short for aplīen, applīen (“to combine, join; to attach; to assemble; to use, be of use; to allot; to apply; to inflict; to go; to ply, steer; to comply, submit”), from Old French applier, aplier, aploier (“to bend; to apply”), from Latin applicāre, present active infinitive of applicō (“to apply; to attach, join; to add”), from ad- (“to, towards”) + plicō (“to bend, fold, roll up”); see further at etymology 1.
A bent; a direction.
Where this word comes from
From apply; compare Middle English plīen, pli, plie, pleie (“to place (something) around, on, or over, to cover; to apply, use; to strive”), short for aplīen, applīen (“to combine, join; to attach; to assemble; to use, be of use; to allot; to apply; to inflict; to go; to ply, steer; to comply, submit”), from Old French applier, aplier, aploier (“to bend; to apply”), from Latin applicāre, present active infinitive of applicō (“to apply; to attach, join; to add”), from ad- (“to, towards”) + plicō (“to bend, fold, roll up”); see further at etymology 1.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.