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

Now, it can be more lucrative to ply their trade back on campus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall is also high on Forest's list with the 20-year-old open to leaving Spurs after limited minutes, while he wants to ply as a number six which suits Forest.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Giant container ships ply sea lanes skirting the archipelago's southern tip, where roughly a third of global maritime trade transits between Asia, Africa, the Gulf and the Red Sea.

From Barron's ● May 18, 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

The modern ships that ply the Keplerian trajectories to the planets are unmanned.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

These acrylic-based cabin windows are usually made out of two layers or plies, and Saint-Gobain also performs tests to confirm whether the window will survive even if one of those plies gets damaged.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

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

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 old world plies her old trade and thrives by it.

From Rob of the Bowl, Vol. I (of 2) A Legend of St. Inigoe's by John P. Kennedy

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

Next to them, Colbert plied his art slyly, even mildly, but regularly and in ways the nerdiest students of comedy could appreciate.

From Salon ● May 21, 2026

Like those hoops legends, some plied their trade in eras when the rules and the competition were easier in certain ways, much tougher in others.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 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

Not Weep nor the Cusp nor the citadel were visible, but a great deal of pale-rose sky, and, beneath it, this broad path of smooth green water plied by birds with long, curved necks.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Of course, Na is toying with his audience’s show me anticipation, while plying his trademark humor about rural sensibilities and desperate needling behavior.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

He’s a retired wrestler who comes back into her life after his other family kicks him to the curb, and reasons that they’re both entertainers plying their craft to make ends meet.

From Salon ● May 4, 2026

Ships plying the Black Sea face Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian ports, endangering the world’s grain supply.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 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

The net effect was that for all his quiet humility the man’s wide-ranging knowledge and quiet eloquence commanded absolute respect, and never more than when he was at work in his shop, plying his craft.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown