ply

¹ American  

[plahy] / plaɪ /

verb (used with object)

plied, plying

1. to work with or at diligently; employ busily; use.

   to ply the needle.

2. to carry on, practice, or pursue busily or steadily.

   to ply a trade.

   Synonyms:

   exercise, follow

3. to treat with or apply to (something) repeatedly (often followed bywith ).

   to ply a fire with fresh fuel.

4. to assail persistently.

   to ply horses with a whip.

5. to supply with or offer something pressingly to.

   to ply a person with drink.

6. to address (someone) persistently or urgently, as with questions, solicitations, etc.; importune.

7. to pass over or along (a river, stream, etc.) steadily or on a regular basis.

   boats that ply the Mississippi.

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verb (used without object)

plied, plying

1. to run or travel regularly over a fixed course or between certain places, as a boat, bus, etc.

2. to perform one's work or office busily or steadily.

   to ply with the oars; to ply at a trade.

ply ² American  

[plahy] / plaɪ /

noun

• plies
  plural

1. a thickness or layer.

2. Automotive. a layer of reinforcing fabric for a tire.

3. a unit of yarn.

   single ply.

4. one of the sheets of veneer that are glued together to make plywood.

5. Informal. plywood.

6. bent, bias, or inclination.

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verb (used with object)

plied, plying

1. British Dialect. to bend, fold, or mold.

verb (used without object)

plied, plying

1. Obsolete. to bend, incline, or yield.

ply ¹ British  

/ plaɪ /

verb

1. to carry on, pursue, or work at (a job, trade, etc)

2. to manipulate or wield (a tool)

3. to sell (goods, wares, etc), esp at a regular place

4. (usually foll by with) to provide (with) or subject (to) repeatedly or persistently

   he plied us with drink the whole evening

   to ply a horse with a whip

   he plied the speaker with questions

5. (intr) to perform or work steadily or diligently

   to ply with a spade

6. (also intr) (esp of a ship) to travel regularly along (a route) or in (an area)

   to ply between Dover and Calais

   to ply the trade routes

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ply ² British  

/ plaɪ /

noun

1. 1. a layer, fold, or thickness, as of cloth, wood, yarn, etc

   2. ( in combination )

      four-ply

2. a thin sheet of wood glued to other similar sheets to form plywood

3. one of the strands twisted together to make rope, yarn, etc

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verb

1. to twist together (two or more single strands) to make yarn

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• plyingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• plies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ply¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English plien, shortened variant of ap(p)lien apply

Origin of ply²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb plien, pleie, plaie “to bend, fold, mold,” from Middle French plier, ployer “to fold, bend,” variant of ployer, Old French pleier, from Latin plicāre “to fold”; see origin at fold ¹

Explanation

Ply means to work steadily at something. If you've got a lemonade stand and you're busy perfecting your recipe and seeking out customers, you're doing a good job of plying your trade. A ship that regularly travels a particular route plies that route. When someone offers you food or drink, often in hopes of getting something in return, they're plying you: "If I ply you with cake, will you take my dog for a walk?" The noun ply is very different from the verb, referring to layers or strands. Four-ply yarn is made up of four strands. Plywood is made of many layers of wood glued together.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ply plies plied plying

Ships continue to ply the Strait of Hormuz, though in much lower volumes than in June and July, when a ceasefire prevailed for part of the two months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Their squad arguably possesses less individual talent - only four of their 26 players currently ply their trade in one of Europe's top five leagues.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

The demand has given rise to a burgeoning gray market, where wellness spas, multilevel marketers and telehealth websites ply the public with vials of “research grade” peptides labeled “not for human use.”

From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2026

And it will rely on a group of primarily Dutch recruits who ply their trade in the Netherlands and as far afield as Hungary and Saudi Arabia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026

If the capsule wasn’t strong enough to withstand the forces acting on it at max Q, it could sim ply explode.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Sheinbaum's interest in her art had "changed her life," the trained business administrator said in Oaxaca in southern Mexico, where she now plies her art.

From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026

One Colombian pilot who plies the Caribbean said crews look for any advantage, from sailing at night or in rough weather, even in storms when Colombian government patrol boats might stay in port.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025

It concluded that not a single vessel was safe and the dive boat industry in Egypt "plies its trade largely unregulated".

From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2025

She plies a similar jovial egocentrism as a substitute teacher on “Abbott Elementary,” and both characters are insufferable to the adults in the room.

From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2024

The coche d'eau, as it is whimsically called, is a passage-boat which plies between Châlons and Lyons: places are reserved in it for those who may arrive by the diligence from Paris.

From Four Years in France or, Narrative of an English Family's Residence there during that Period; Preceded by some Account of the Conversion of the Author to the Catholic Faith by Henry Digby Beste

At a nearby beach resort, a high-speed Coast Guard vessel plied the waters for two people still missing after swimming in waters that churned violently as the quake struck.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

Only around a third of Angus’s 404 owners have plied their tokenized shares of the animal into the artists’ online Remorse Portal, signifying their wish to save his life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026

“The Gilded Age” has always plied high-toned melodrama as its chief asset, but Season 3 ripens the starched formality of previous episodes into succulence.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2025

As mouse-eared pilgrims plied the sidewalks outside, the party faithful — meeting several long blocks from Disneyland — engaged in their own bit of escapism and magical thinking.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025

The dinner that followed was lively and cordial: Bobby showed Ilyumzhinov how Fischer Random was played, and he plied the president with questions about Russian politics.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

He is in many ways the perfect representative of the globe-trotting Sharks, having been born nearly 2,000 miles from Cape Verde in Portugal and plying his trade professionally for Maccabi Tel Aviv.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

Owners of several vehicles plying the streets rejoiced with symbolic honks and screams, most of them either waving the flag or hanging samples by their car windows.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

Inglis, who has been plying her trade in the tier below the WTA Tour, might have been handed a walkover, but she's unlikely to be feeling rusty when she faces Swiatek.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026

Some players have moved to different countries like Taifour, who departed Al Merrikh for Libya and is now plying his trade in Tunisia.

From Barron's ● Dec. 30, 2025

He'd been plying the narrow sea for thirty years, he'd told her, as oarman, quartermaster, and finally cap-tain of his own trading galleys.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin