How to pronounce ply
Say it like PLY. Ply is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce ply. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- PLY
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Ply pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- PLYSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in time.
American vs British pronunciation of ply
American and British speakers say ply in essentially the same way: /plaɪ/ in the US and /plaɪ/ in the UK.
British respelling: PLY.
What does ply mean?
- To bend, to flex; to be bent by something, to give way or yield (to a force, etc.).
- To work at (something) diligently.“He plied his trade as carpenter for forty-three years.”
- To wield or use (a tool, a weapon, etc.) steadily or vigorously.“He plied his ax with bloody results.”
- To press upon; to urge persistently.“to ply someone with questions or solicitations”
- A layer of material.“two-ply toilet paper”
- A strand that, twisted together with other strands, makes up rope or yarn.
- In two-player sequential games, a "half-turn" or a move made by one of the players.“He proposed to build Deep Purple, a super-computer capable of 24-ply look-ahead for chess.”
Where does ply come from?
From Middle English pleit, plit, plite (“a fold, pleat, wrinkle; braid, strand in a braided cord, ply”), from Anglo-Norman pli, plei, pleit, and Middle French pli, ploy, ply (“a fold, pleat; joint in armor; situation, state”) (modern Frenc
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Words that rhyme with ply
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of ply.
Questions about saying ply
How do you pronounce ply?
Say PLY. The American pronunciation is /plaɪ/. In British English it is /plaɪ/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in ply?
Ply is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: PLY.
Do Americans and Brits say ply the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /plaɪ/ and the British form is /plaɪ/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.