PLY (3)

Ply, n. [[Cf. F. pli, fr. plier. See Ply, v.]] 1. 1. A fold; a plait; a turn or twist, as of a cord. Arbuthnot.
2. 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.