FromMiddle Englishpleit,plit,plite(“a fold, pleat, wrinkle; braid, strand in a braided cord, ply”), fromAnglo-Normanpli,plei,pleit,[1] andMiddle Frenchpli,ploy,ply(“a fold, pleat; joint in armour; situation, state”) (modernFrenchpli(“a fold, pleat”)), fromplier,ployer(“to bend, fold”),[2] fromplicāre(“to bend, fold, roll up”), fromProto-Indo-European*pleḱ-(“to fold, plait, weave”).
ply (countable anduncountable,pluralplyorpliesorplys)
- Alayer ofmaterial.
two-ply toilet paper
1999,Twelfth International Conference on VLSI Design: Proceedings: January 7–10, 1999, Goa, India, Los Alamitos, Calif.:IEEE Computer Society Press,→ISBN, page313:It is possible to have a very well load balanced partition but with such a highply that its slowest piece is slower than a not-so-well balanced partition with lessply.
2015 October,Tim Gunn, withAda Calhoun, “Repositioning the Parsons Fashion Design Program”, inTim Gunn: The Natty Professor: A Master Class on Mentoring, Motivating, and Making it Work!, trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.:Gallery Books,→ISBN, part I (Truth Telling),page49:The designer critic's staff would come in with, for example, loads of three-ply cashmere. The students weren't even selecting their own fabrics.
- Astrand that,twisted together with other strands, makes uprope oryarn.
1837 August, “Art I.Protection against Hail Storms. Notice and Description of the Paragrèle, or Hail Rod. By A. J. Downing, Botanic Garden and Nurseries, Newbergh, N.Y.”, in C. M. Hovey, editor,The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and All Useful Discoveries and Improvements in Rural Affairs, volume III, number VIII (number XXXII overall), Boston, Mass.: Published by Hovey & Co., […]; New York, N.Y.: Israel Post, […],→OCLC,page281:To make the hail rod a rope of straw is the first thing necessary; it must be made of ripe wheat straw, soaked and twisted, plaited with three strand and then with fourply, making twelve strand to the rope.
- (colloquial)Short forplywood.
1951 May, “British Railway Standard Coaches”, inRailway Magazine, page328:The compartment ceiling panels are of plastic material backed withply or hardboard panels.
1994, Alan Blanc, “Doors”, inMitchell’s Internal Components (Mitchell’s Building Series), Essex:Longman Scientific & Technical,→ISBN; republished London:Routledge,2014,→ISBN, section 6.5 (Flush Doors):The Standards describe the quality of timber orply, moisture content, amount of acceptable sapwood, freedom from decay and insect attack, limitation of checks and splits and treatment of resin staining, and the way plugging may be employed to mask defects inply faces.
2015, “Hull and Deck”, in Judith Chamberlain-Webber, editor,The Boat Improvement Bible: Practical Projects to Customise and Upgrade Your Boat, London:Adlard Coles Nautical,→ISBN,page39, column 1:Teak-facedply is about three times the price of any other, so if you need to economise, anything other than teak would be a good choice! Similarly, marineply is substantially more expensive than exteriorply, so it may be preferable to go with the latter option.
- (artificial intelligence, combinatorial game theory) Intwo-playersequentialgames, a "half-turn" or amove made by one of the players.
He proposed to build Deep Purple, a super-computer capable of 24-ply look-ahead for chess.
1996,Jonathan Schaeffer, Robert Lake, “Solving the Game of Checkers”, in Richard J. Nowakowski, editor,Games of No Chance: Combinatorial Games at MSRI, 1994 (Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Publications;29), Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,→ISBN,page122:Chinook uses an iterative, alpha-beta search with transposition tables and the history heuristic […]. Under tournament conditions (thirty moves an hour), the program searches to an average minimum depth of nineteenply (oneply is one move by one player). The search uses selective deepening to extend lines that are tactically or positionally interesting. Consequently, major lines of play are often searched manyplies deeper. It is not uncommon for the program to produce analyses that are thirty-ply deep or more.
2009, Richard A. Epstein, “Games of Pure Skill and Competitive Computers”, inThe Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic, 2nd edition, Burlington, Mass.:Academic Press,→ISBN; special edition, Waltham, Mass., Kidlington, Oxfordshire: Academic Press,2013,→ISBN,page380:Two principal search strategies were (correctly) predicted: Type-A programs that apply "brute force" inspection of every possible position over a fixed number ofplys; and Type-B programs that prune potential moves according to some selection function and then examine the significant sets over as manyplys as practical and only at those positions reflecting a degree of stability.
- (now chiefly Scotland) Acondition, astate.
1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, inMemoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton andRalph Griffiths] […],→OCLC,page75:You may be ſure, in theply I was now taking, I had no objection to the propoſal, and was rather a tiptoe for its accompliſhment.
strand making up rope or yarn
in two-player sequential games, a "half-turn" or a move made by one of the players
FromMiddle Englishplīen,pli,plie(“to bend, fold, mould, shape; to be flexible; to be submissive, humble oneself; to compel someone to submit”),[3] fromAnglo-Normanplier,plaier,pleier,ploier, andMiddle Frenchplier,ployer(“to bend, fold; to be submissive; to compel someone to submit”) (modernFrenchplier,ployer),[4] fromOld Frenchploiier,pleier(“to fold”),[3] fromLatinplicāre(“to fold”);see further atetymology 1. The word is cognate withCatalanplegar(“to bend, fold”),Italianpiegare(“to bend, fold, fold up”),Old Occitanplegar,plejar,pleyar(“to fold”) (modernOccitanplegar),Spanishplegar(“to fold”).[4]
ply (third-person singular simple presentplies,present participleplying,simple past and past participleplied)
- (transitive, obsolete) Tobend; tofold; tomould;(figuratively) toadapt, tomodify; tochange (a person's)mind, tocause (a person) tosubmit.
1743,Virgil, “The Georgics of Virgil. Book II.”, in[Joseph Davidson], transl.,The Works of Virgil Translated into English Prose, […] In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for Joseph Davidson, […],→OCLC,page135:And now when at length the Vineyard has ſhed its late Leaves, and the cold Northwind ſhook from the Groves their Honours; even then the active Swain extends his Cares to the enſuing Year, and cloſeplys thedeſolate forſaken Vine, cutting offthe ſuperfluous Roots with Saturn's crooked Hook, and forms it by pruning.
- (intransitive) To bend, toflex; to bebent by something, togive way oryield (to aforce, etc.).
1692,Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables ofAnianus, &c.] Fab[le] CCXV. An Oak and a Willow.”, inFables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […],→OCLC,page187:TheOak Upbraided theWillow, that it was Weak and Wavering, and gave way to Every Blaſt.[…] Some very little while after This Diſpute, it Blew a Violent Storm. TheWillowPly’d, and gave way to the Guſt, and ſtill recover’d it ſelf again, without receiving any Damage: But theOak was Stubborn, and choſe rather toBreak thanBend.
(transitive, obsolete) to bend; to fold
(intransitive) to bend, flex; to be bent by something, to give way or yield
Fromapply;[5] compareMiddle Englishplīen,pli,plie,pleie(“to place (something) around, on, or over, to cover; to apply, use; to strive”),[6] short foraplīen,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”), fromOld Frenchapplier,aplier,aploier(“to bend; to apply”),[7] fromLatinapplicāre,presentactiveinfinitive ofapplicō(“to apply; to attach, join; to add”), fromad-(“to, towards”) +plicō(“to bend, fold, roll up”);see further atetymology 1.
ply (third-person singular simple presentplies,present participleplying,simple past and past participleplied)
- (transitive) Towork at (something)diligently.
Heplied his trade as carpenter for forty-three years.
1595,G[eorge] P[eele],The Old Wiues Tale. […], printed at London: By Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie,→OCLC; reprinted asThe Old Wives Tale, 1595 (The Malone Society Reprints; 7), Oxford: Printed for theMalone Society byHorace Hart M.A., at theOxford University Press, 1908 (February 1909 reprint),→OCLC,line 720:Ply you your work or elſe you are like to ſmart.
1666,Edm[und] Waller,Instructions to a Painter, for the Drawing of the Posture & Progress of His Ma[jes]ties Forces at Sea, under the Command of His Highness Royal. […], London: Printed forHenry Herringman, […],→OCLC,page13:ButEnglish Courage growing as they fight, / In danger, noise, and slaughter takes delight, / Their bloody Task, unwearied, still theyply, / Only restrain’d by Death, or Victory:[…]
1877, Robert Louis Stevenson, “An Apology for Idlers”, inVirginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, London:C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published1881,→OCLC,page124:Many who have "plied their book diligently," and know all about some one branch or another of accepted lore, come out of the study with an ancient and owl-like demeanour, and prove dry, stockish, and dyspeptic in all the better and brighter parts of life.
- (transitive) Towield oruse (atool, aweapon, etc.)steadily orvigorously.
Heplied his ax with bloody results.
c.1590–1592 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act II, scene i],page215, column 1:Why how now Dame, whence growes this inſolence? /Bianca ſtand aſide, poore gyrle ſhe weepes: / Goply thy Needle; meddle not with her.
1854, “St. Valentine’s Day”, inThe Favorite, volume I, London: Partridge, Oakey, and Co. […],→OCLC,page114:He [a carpenter] feels an additional particle of new life coursing through his veins, and heplys the plane on the following day with additional energy to his own and to his master's satisfaction.
1863,[James Pascoe], “Death in the Vaults”, inThe Brigantine. A Story of the Sea. In Two Volumes, volume I, London:Richard Bentley, […],→OCLC,page299:Drink had dispelled all common prudence, and chuckling at the idea of finding treasures unknown to their comrades, theyplied the crowbar to the door, which was locked, but it soon yielded.
1871 February 24, B. F. Sawyer, “The Ku-Klux—The Atlanta Sun and Bullock’s Proclamation”, inRome Courier; quoted inTestimony Taken by the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States. Georgia, volume II, Washington, D.C.:Government Printing Office, 1 November 1871, published 1872,→OCLC,page883:[T]his abuse is as outrageous as are the acts of any Ku-Klux that everplied the lash or sounded a whistle,[…]
- (transitive) Topress upon; tourgepersistently.
toply someone with questions or solicitations
- (transitive) Topersist inoffering something to, especially for the purpose ofinducement orpersuasion.
toply someone with drink
1749,Henry Fielding, “In which the Man of the Hill Continues His History”, inThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London:A[ndrew] Millar, […],→OCLC, book VIII,page264:[T]he true Gameſters pretended to be ill, and refuſed their Glaſs, while theyplied heartily two young Fellows, who were to be afterwards pillaged, as indeed they were without Mercy.
- (ambitransitive, transport) Totravel over (aroute)regularly.
toply the seven seas
The steamerplies between several ports on the coast.
1794, “Chap. XXVI. An Act for the Improvement of the Town and Harbour of Wexford, and for Building a Bridge or Bridges over the River Slaney, at or near said Town.”, inStatutes Passed in the Parliaments Held in Ireland, volume X, Dublin: Printed byGeorge Grierson, […], published1799,→OCLC, section LXXIII,page56:[T]he ſaid corporation ſhall and may be authorized and required to licenſe all ſuch perſon or perſons as ſhall keep or drive any cars, drays or carts,plying for hire within the ſaid town of Wexford,
1866 March 21, “Letton v. Goodden”, inMontagu Chambers, Francis Towers Streeten, Frederick Hoare Colt, editors,The Law Journal Reports for the Year 1866: […], volumes XXXV (New Series; volume XLIV overall), part I (Chancery and Bankruptcy), London: Printed by James Holmes, […];[p]ublished by Edward Bret Ince, […],→OCLC, headnote,page427, column 1:An act of parliament, empowering the plaintiffs, a company, toply on Sundays from certain points on the south bank of the Thames, but imposing no obligation to provide means of transport or to maintain theirplying-places, does not confer an exclusive right against the rest of the world, such as the Court of Chancery will interfere to protect;[…]
1907, Mark Tennien, edited by Marshall Broomhall,The Chinese Empire: A General & Missionary Survey[1], London: Morgan & Scott,page169:Steam navigation is in its infancy: four small 600-ton steamersply between Hankow, Changsha, and Siangtan; and there are also perhaps a score of launchesplying in and out of the province.
1941 January, the late John Phillimore, “The Forth Bridge 1890-1940”, inRailway Magazine, page 5:Before the bridging of the Forth, the train ferry whichplied across the estuary from Granton to Burntisland was inconvenient, slow, and uncomfortable, and although an alternative route was available, it meant a detour by rail of 70 milesvia Stirling [...].
- (intransitive, obsolete) To work diligently.
1711 June 29 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison;Richard Steeleet al.], “MONDAY, June 18, 1711”, inThe Spectator, number94; republished inAlexander Chalmers, editor,The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.:D[aniel] Appleton & Company,1853,→OCLC,page23:He was afterwards reduced to great want, and forced to think ofplying in the streets as a porter for his livelihood.- The spelling has been modernized.
- (intransitive, nautical, obsolete) Tomanoeuvre asailingvessel so that thedirection of thewindchanges from one side of the vessel to the other; to work towindward, tobeat, totack.
1653 July 21,William Penn,Granville Penn, “A Journal on theVanguard”, inMemorial of the Professional Life and Times of Sir William Penn, Knt. Admiral and General of the Fleet, during the Interregnum; Admiral and Commissioner of the Admiralty and Navy, after the Restoration. From 1644 to 1670.[...] In Two Volumes, volume I, London: James Duncan, […], published1833,→OCLC,page535:Weighed anchor about five morn, andplied till about noon, and then anchored. This day, at morn, went about the general to council: the result was, the fleet shouldply near, as with convenience, to the Texel, to prevent a conjunction of those ships there with Admiral[Maarten] Tromp;[…]
to work at (something) diligently
to wield or use (a tool, a weapon, etc.) steadily or vigorously
to press upon; to urge persistently
to persist in offering something to
ply
- Abent; adirection.
- ^“pleit,n.”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.
- ^“ply,n.”, inOED Online
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2006. - ↑3.03.1“plīen,v.(1)”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007, retrieved16 November 2018.
- ↑4.04.1“ply,v.1”, inOED Online, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2006.
- ^“ply,v.2”, inOED Online, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2006.
- ^“plīen,v.(2)”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007, retrieved16 November 2018.
- ^“ap(p)līen,v.”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007, retrieved16 November 2018.
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2006.
ply (layer) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia