ply

ply

I

ply¹ /plaɪ/ verb (past tense and past participle plied, present participle plying, third person singular plies)1. ply your trade literary to work at your business, especially buying and selling things on the street:
    In some areas, drug dealers openly ply their trade on street corners.
2. [I, T always + adv/prep] written if a ship, bus etc plies between two places or across a place, it does that journey regularly
    ply between/across etc
    Two ferries ply between Tripoli and Malta every day.
3. ply for hire/trade British English to try to get customers or passengers, in order to do business:
    Continental airlines ply for trade in the UK.
4. [transitive] old use literary to use a tool skilfully
     
ply somebody with something phrasal verb
  1. to keep giving someone large quantities of food or drink:
    The local people plied me with beer, until I could barely move.
  2. ply somebody with questions to keep asking someone questions

II

ply² noun (plural ply) [countable]a unit for measuring the thickness of thread, rope, plywood etc, based on the number of threads or layers that it has:
    a sweater in four-ply yarn