Meaning & use
ply
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Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To keep supplying someone with something, such as food, drink or questions.
Grammar: Usually with with: ply guests with snacks.
Patterns
- ply someone with something
The host plied his guests with wine all night.
Reporters plied her with questions after the match.
Grandma plies us with cookies whenever we visit.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To travel regularly along a route, as a boat or vehicle does.
Grammar: Takes a route as object or follows with between: the ferry plies between the islands.
Patterns
- ply between something and something
- ply a route
Small boats ply the river every morning.
A ferry plies between the two islands.
Taxis ply the streets near the station.
verbtransitiveformalold-fashioned
To work at a trade or job, especially regularly.
Grammar: Takes an object like a trade: ply a trade.
Patterns
- ply a trade
He plied his trade as a cobbler for forty years.
Street vendors ply their wares near the market.
She plies her skills in the village school.
nouncountable
A layer or strand in something made of several, such as wood, thread, tissue or tires.
Grammar: Often in compounds: two-ply, three-ply.
Patterns
- three-ply tissue
- a ply of something
Choose a three-ply tissue for extra softness.
The wool is made of four plies twisted together.
Plywood has thin plies glued in alternating directions.
Word forms
| third person singular | plies |
|---|---|
| past tense | plied |
| past participle | plied |
| -ing form | plying |
| plural noun | plies |
Common combinations
- ply with drink
- They plied him with drink to loosen his tongue.
- ply with questions
- Fans plied the player with questions.
- ply a trade
- He plied his trade in the harbor town.
- ply the waters
- Tour boats ply the waters of the bay.
- two-ply
- This two-ply paper is stronger.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
Commonly confused: ply or apply? ply or ply with fly?
ply vs apply
Apply is a different verb; both come from the same Latin root but apply means to request or put on.
ply vs ply with fly
Do not mix ply with fly, though planes also ply routes.
Practice
At the party, my aunt kept ___ everyone with sandwiches and cake.
Choose one answer.
Ply someone with something is the standard pattern, and kept needs the -ing form, plying. Plied is the wrong tense after kept.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ply”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.