ploy
[ ploi ]
/ plɔɪ /
||
noun
a maneuver or stratagem, as in conversation, to gain the advantage.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
Military Archaic. to move from a line into a column.
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Origin of ploy
SYNONYMS FOR ploy
Related formscoun·ter·ploy, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for ployed
He retired, and ployed into brigade columns by regiments, immediately beyond the crest of Fairview hill.
The Campaign of Chancellorsville|Theodore A. DodgePage 434: 'enployed' corrected to 'employed': "known to nearly all pottery-making peoples—were frequently employed."
Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley|William H. Holmes
British Dictionary definitions for ployed
ploy
/ (plɔɪ) /
noun
a manoeuvre or tactic in a game, conversation, etc; stratagem; gambit
any business, job, hobby, etc, with which one is occupiedangling is his latest ploy
mainly British a frolic, escapade, or practical joke
Word Origin for ploy
C18: originally Scot and northern English, perhaps from obsolete n sense of employ meaning an occupation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ployed
ploy
1722, "anything with which one amuses oneself," Scottish and northern England dialect, possibly a shortened form of employ or deploy. Popularized in the sense "move or gambit made to gain advantage" by British humorist Stephen Potter (1900-1969).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper