divide vs ply

divide

noun
  • An act of dividing. 

  • A distancing between two people or things. 

  • A large chasm, gorge, or ravine between two areas of land. 

  • The topographical boundary dividing two adjacent catchment basins, such as a ridge or a crest. 

  • A thing that divides. 

verb
  • To vote, as in the British parliament and other legislatures, by the members separating themselves into two parties (as on opposite sides of the hall or in opposite lobbies), that is, the ayes dividing from the noes. 

  • To share (something) by dividing it. 

  • To separate into two or more parts. 

  • To mark divisions on; to graduate. 

  • To calculate the number (the quotient) by which you must multiply one given number (the divisor) to produce a second given number (the dividend). 

  • To play or sing in a florid style, or with variations. 

  • To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant or hostile; to set at variance. 

  • To be a divisor of. 

  • To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. 

  • Of a cell, to reproduce by dividing. 

ply

noun
  • A bent; a direction. 

  • In two-player sequential games, a "half-turn" or a move made by one of the players. 

  • A layer of material. 

  • A strand that, twisted together with other strands, makes up rope or yarn. 

  • A condition, a state. 

verb
  • To work at (something) diligently. 

  • To press upon; to urge persistently. 

  • To persist in offering something to, especially for the purpose of inducement or persuasion. 

  • To travel over (a route) regularly. 

  • To bend, to flex; to be bent by something, to give way or yield (to a force, etc.). 

  • To wield or use (a tool, a weapon, etc.) steadily or vigorously. 

How often have the words divide and ply occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )