Ply, n. [Cf. F. pli, fr. plier. See Ply, v.] 1. A fold; a plait; a turn or twist, as of a cord. Arbuthnot.
2. Bent; turn; direction; bias.
The late learners can not so well take the ply. Bacon.
Boswell, and others of Goldsmith's contemporaries,... did not understand the secret plies of his character. W. Irving.
The czar's mind had taken a strange ply, which it retained to the last. Macaulay.
☞ Ply is used in composition to designate folds, or the number of webs interwoven; as, a three-ply carpet.