plié

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pli·é

 (plē-ā′)
n.
A dance movement in which the knees are bent.

[French, from past participle of plier, to fold, bend, from Old French; see pliant.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

plié

(ˈpliːeɪ)
n
(Ballet) a classic ballet practice posture with back erect and knees bent
[French: bent, from plier to bend]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pli•é

(pliˈeɪ)

n., pl. pli•és (pliˈeɪz; Fr. pliˈeɪ)
a ballet movement in which the knees are bent and the back is held straight.
[1890–95; < French, n. use of past participle of plier to bend; see ply2]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

plié

(bend). Bending of the knees while erect with the feet turned out, heels on the ground; demi plié becomes so low that the heels must be raised; grand plié lower with the buttocks as near the heels (still kept as close to the ground as possible).
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
References in classic literature ?
At that hour the clear-voiced nymphs are with him and move with nimble feet, singing by some spring of dark water, while Echo wails about the mountain-top, and the god on this side or on that of the choirs, or at times sidling into the midst, plies it nimbly with his feet.
From house to house warm winter robes are spread, And through the pine-woods red Floats up the sound of the washerman's bat who plies His hurried task ere the brief noon wanes and dies.
A closet was filled with wine; the plate was of silver, the napery elegant; a good picture hung upon the walls, a gift (as Utterson supposed) from Henry Jekyll, who was much of a connoisseur; and the carpets were of many plies and agreeable in colour.
Adventure-seeking doth he go Up rugged heights, down rocky valleys, But hill or dale, or high or low, Mishap attendeth all his sallies: Love still pursues him to and fro, And plies his cruel scourge- ah me!
She never turns her head until she comes to the crossing where Jo plies with his broom.
Petersburg, which plies along the Lena by magnetism, needs little to make it sublime.
The night was getting on to what I may call its deepest hour, the hour most favourable to evil purposes of men's hate, despair or greed--to whatever can whisper into their ears the unlawful counsels of protest against things that are; the hour of ill-omened silence and chill and stagnation, the hour when the criminal plies his trade and the victim of sleeplessness reaches the lowest depth of dreadful discouragement; the hour before the first sight of dawn.
East can't help shouting challenges to two or three of the other side, though he never leaves Tom for a moment, and plies the sponges as fast as ever.
Syncopate your plie. Jumping higher can get tricky with petit allegro, as you might feel like you don't have the time to take the plie you need at a fast tempo.
Hold your lowest plie position for 10 more seconds before standing up and lowering your heels.