3. (Naut.)
Defn: To work to windward; to beat.
PLY
Ply, n. Etym: [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.
Note: Ply is used in composition to designate folds, or the number of webs interwoven; as, a three-ply carpet.
PLYER
Ply"er, n.
Defn: One who, or that which, plies; specifically: (a) pl.
Defn: A kind of balance used in raising and letting down a drawbridge. It consists of timbers joined in the form of a St. Andrew's cross. (b) pl.
Defn: See Pliers.