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📄 A layer 🍽️ To give repeatedly 🛠️ To work steadily ⛴️ To travel regularly 🧶 To twist layers
to ply

to ply

1 7.3
To join threads, strands and layers into stronger material
  • verb
  • /plaɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : trenzar
  • She spent the afternoon plying her needle with various colored threads for her quilt.

Examples

  • I just finished up plying some gorgeous singles spun from roving by the Moonshine Fiber Company.

    Blog text (4)

  • She'd loved to ply the needles since she was a girl.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • I've made my living plying both.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • I finished the singles sometime this spring and finally got around to plying and washing them in July.

    Blog text (22)

  • The way the dark black and gray singles plied with the eye-searingly bright singles was inspiring.

    Blog text (4)

  • She was too eager, as I knew she would be, her chubby fingers plying the hair too fast.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • They plied the creeks in long canoes.

    Academic text (1996)

  • He learned to ply the threads together to create beautiful patterns in his embroidery.

  • The artisans skillfully ply yarn into intricate designs on their looms.

Synonyms

to weave
vsto ply
62 3.5

To make cloth by crossing threads or to join things into a single piece

covers joining by twisting, weaving, or molding beyond fabric making alone
to splice
vsto ply
8 6.4

To join the ends of rope, wire, or film by weaving them together

joins layers or strands more generally by twisting, weaving, or molding
to laminate
vsto ply
3 4.9

To join several thin layers together to make a new material

joins by twisting or weaving rather than by adhesive or bonding methods
to seam
vsto ply
3 3.6

To join pieces of cloth by sewing their edges together

joins layers or strands by twisting, weaving, or molding rather than stitching
to plait
vsto ply
  • UK
2 5.5

To braid hair, thread, or plants by crossing strands together

joins by twisting or weaving layers rather than only patterned cables
to plat
vsto ply
  • Archaic
8.1

To braid hair, rope, or straw by weaving three strands together

joins strands by twisting or molding rather than only forming a narrow pattern
to leno
vsto ply
  • Specialized
9.9

To twist nearby threads while weaving so the fabric has open, stable holes

joins layers or strands more broadly, not only with that specific twist method
to interfold
vsto ply
7.9

To fold together so layers lie inside each other

joins by twisting or weaving rather than primarily by folding layers

Antonyms

to separate
297 1.9

To break into parts or pieces

Compounds

two-ply
1 3.1

Two thin layers joined to make something stronger or warmer

cross-ply
  • Specialized
8.4

A tire with diagonal cloth layers that make the tread flexible and the sides stiff

radial-ply tire
  • Specialized
5.4

A tire for cars with strong layers running across it to give a smoother, longer lasting ride

radial-ply
  • Specialized
8.1

A tire with layers running across it at right angles, giving longer tread life and flexible sides

three-ply
3.9

Made of three layers joined together

How Twisted

to spin
23 2.3
to twist
231 1.7
to ply
  • Specialized
1 7.3

Surface Forms

ply infinitive
plied past
plied past participle
plying present participle
plies third person singular

Etymology

Ply comes from an old word plicare meaning 'to fold or twist'. Think of twisting threads or layers together, so to ply material is to join or twist it into a stronger piece.