plying

4 definitions • 6 examples

present participle of

to sell or to work regularly at something, especially at a job that involves selling things:

Fishermen in small boats ply their trade up and down the coast.

Dealers are openly plying drugs in school playgrounds.

The market traders were loudly plying their wares.

to try to get customers for your business in a public place, for example, as a taxi driver, by driving around or waiting in a regular place:

There are never any taxis plying for trade/hire in our area.

When a boat, train, bus, etc. plies a particular route, it makes that journey regularly:

High-speed trains regularly ply between Paris and Lyons.

This airline has been plying the transatlantic route for many years.