ply

/plaɪ/

/plaɪ/

Other forms: plied; plying; plies

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.

Definitions of ply

1. verb

   use diligently
   “ply your wits!”

   type of:

   apply, employ, use, utilise, utilize

   put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose
2. verb

   wield vigorously
   “ply an axe”

   type of:

   handle, manage, wield

   manage or wield effectively
3. verb

   apply oneself diligently
   “Ply one's trade”

   type of:

   do, perform

   get (something) done
4. verb

   travel a route regularly
   “Ships ply the waters near the coast”

   synonyms: run

   black market, run

   deal in illegally, such as arms or liquor

   type of:

   jaunt, travel, trip

   make a trip for pleasure
5. verb

   give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
   synonyms: cater, provide, supply

   types:

   staff

   provide with staff

   drench

   force to drink

   regale, treat

   provide with choice or abundant food or drink

   board

   provide food and lodging (for)

   feed, give

   give food to

   feed

   serve as food for; be the food for

   dish, dish out, dish up, serve, serve up

   provide (usually but not necessarily food)

   cater

   supply food ready to eat; for parties and banquets

   help, serve

   help to some food; help with food or drink

   power

   supply the force or power for the functioning of

   feed

   provide as food

   gratify, indulge, pander

   yield (to); give satisfaction to

   underlay

   provide with a base, support, lining, or backing

   fill, fulfil, fulfill, meet, satisfy

   fill or meet a want or need

   horse

   provide with a horse or horses

   shower

   provide abundantly with

   accommodate

   provide with something desired or needed

   nourish, nurture, sustain

   provide with nourishment

   fix up

   find (something or someone) for

   gutter

   provide with gutters

   humor, humour

   put into a good mood

   man

   provide with workers

   dine

   give dinner to; host for dinner

   wine

   treat to wine

   alcoholise, alcoholize

   subject to the influence of alcohol

   live in, sleep in

   live in the house where one works

   scavenge

   feed on carrion or refuse

   fodder

   give fodder (to domesticated animals)

   slop, swill

   feed pigs

   regurgitate

   feed through the beak by regurgitating previously swallowed food

   corn

   feed (cattle) with corn

   malnourish, undernourish

   provide with insufficient quality or quantity of nourishment

   overfeed

   feed excessively

   spoonfeed

   feed with a spoon

   force-feed

   feed someone who will not or cannot eat

   plank

   cook and serve on a plank

   drive

   cause to function by supplying the force or power for or by controlling

   feast, feed

   gratify

   spree

   engage without restraint in an activity and indulge, as when shopping

   answer

   be satisfactory for; meet the requirements of or serve the purpose of

   remount

   provide with fresh horses

   lunch

   provide a midday meal for

   breakfast

   provide breakfast for

   breastfeed, give suck, lactate, nurse, suck, suckle, wet-nurse

   give suck to

   bottlefeed

   feed (infants) with a bottle

   sow one's oats, sow one's wild oats

   live promiscuously and self-indulgently

   appease, quell, stay

   overcome or allay

   inject

   feed intravenously

   carry

   be able to feed

   feed on, feed upon

   be sustained by

   allay, assuage, quench, slake

   satisfy (thirst)

   aliment, nourish, nutrify

   give nourishment to

   range

   let eat

   crop, graze, pasture

   let feed in a field or pasture or meadow

   type of:

   give

   transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody
6. noun

   one of the strands twisted together to make yarn or rope or thread; often used in combination
   “three-ply cord”

   “four-ply yarn”

   type of:

   strand

   line consisting of a complex of fibers or filaments that are twisted together to form a thread or a rope or a cable
7. noun

   (usually in combinations) one of several layers of cloth or paper or wood as in plywood
   type of:

   bed, layer

   single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance
8. verb

   join together as by twisting, weaving, or molding
   “ply fabric”

   type of:

   bring together, join

   cause to become joined or linked