as in exerting
to bring to bear especially forcefully or effectively
she plied all of her charm and intelligence to convince everyone to volunteer as tutors
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as in weaving
to cause to twine about one another
two single yarns were plied together to get the fabric that smooth, firm feel
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Recent Examples of plying
Jack Bantock, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
Before arriving at Art Basel Miami Beach in early December with two headline-making paintings in two prominent shows, Isabelle Brourman had been traveling the country for years, plying her trade as a courtroom sketch artist.
—Melinda Sheckells, HollywoodReporter, 19 Dec. 2025
Bass found somewhere to spawn, though, as intensive trapping efforts by several agencies plying eight miles of river below the dam counted more than 1,000 in 2023.
—Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 15 Dec. 2025
At Marintec in Shanghai, China, last week, the head of the company’s marine division predicted that transoceanic electric vessels will be plying the seas within three years.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 9 Dec. 2025
The 6-foot-7 Jerami was actually born in Portland while his father, Harvey (Horace's twin brother), was plying his trade with the Trail Blazers.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
The artificial intelligence trade has added trillions in market value to dozens of firms plying the industry, but just three years after ChatGPT broke into the public consciousness, AI remains in the early phase of development.
—Lauren Chomiuk, Fortune, 7 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile, her husband flits in and out of town plying his opaque trade.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2025
Before plying precious stones and metals, pirouettes and pointes were the means of expression for the Belgian.
—Lily Templeton, Footwear News, 6 Sep. 2025
Verb
Dreams of a fourth straight promotion no longer seem so ridiculous for Wrexham, who, having been plying their trade in the fifth tier just three seasons ago, have won four on the spin to move within a point of the Championship playoff places.
—Cite this Entry
“Plying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plying. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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