ply

Pronunciation: /plaɪ/

The English word “ply” has 14 meanings listed here.

noun

A layer of material.
A strand that, twisted together with other strands, makes up rope or yarn.
In two-player sequential games, a "half-turn" or a move made by one of the players.
A condition, a state.
A bent; a direction.

verb

To bend; to fold; to mould; (figuratively) to adapt, to modify; to change (a person's) mind, to cause (a person) to submit.
To bend, to flex; to be bent by something, to give way or yield (to a force, etc.).
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, especially for the purpose of inducement or persuasion.
To travel over (a route) regularly.
To work diligently.
To manoeuvre a sailing vessel so that the direction of the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other; to work to windward, to beat, to tack.

Etymology

From Middle English pleit, plit, plite (“a fold, pleat, wrinkle; braid, strand in a braided cord, ply”), from Anglo-Norman pli, plei, pleit, and Middle French pli, ploy, ply (“a fold, pleat; joint in armour; situation, state”) (modern French pli (“a fold, pleat”)), from plier, ployer (“to bend, fold”), from Latin plicāre (“to bend, fold, roll up”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to fold,…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.