apply

From Middle English aplien, applien, from Old French applier, (French appliquer), from Latin applicō (“join, fix, or attach to”); from ad + plicō (“fold, twist together”). See applicant, ply.

• IPA^(key): /əˈplaɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Hyphenation: ap‧ply

apply (third-person singular simple present applies, present participle applying, simple past and past participle applied)

1. (transitive) To lay or place; to put (one thing to another)

   to apply cream to a rash

   • 1697, John Dryden, Translation of Virgil's Aeneid:

     He said, and to the sword his throat applied.

2. (transitive) To put to use; to use or employ for a particular purpose, or in a particular case

   Synonyms: appropriate, devote, use

   to apply funds to the repayment of a debt

3. (transitive) To make use of, declare, or pronounce, as suitable, fitting, or relative

   We need to apply the skills we’ve learned to solve this problem.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Yet God at last To Satan, first in sin, his doom applied.

4. (transitive) To put closely; to join; to engage and employ diligently, or with attention

   Synonyms: attach, incline

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:12:

     Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

5. (reflexive) To work diligently and attentively.
6. (transitive) To address; to refer; generally used reflexively.
   • 1725, Homer, “Book X”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume III, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:

     sacred vows […] applied to grisly Pluto

   • 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Economy”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:

     On applying to the assessors, I am surprised to learn that they cannot at once name a dozen in the town who own their farms free and clear.

7. (intransitive) To submit oneself as a candidate (with the adposition "to" designating the recipient of the submission, and the adposition "for" designating the position).

   I recently applied to the tavern for a job as a bartender.

   Most of the colleges she applied to were ones she thought she had a good chance of getting into.

   Many of them don't know it, but almost a third of the inmates are eligible to apply for parole or work-release programs.

   • 1974 August 7, Ronald A. Frank, “SP Seeks Approval for Coast-to-Coast Digital Net”, in Computerworld, page 15:

     Southern Pacific Communications Co. (SP) has applied to the FCC for approval of the first coast-to-coast digital data transmission service.

8. (intransitive) To pertain or be relevant to a specified individual or group.

   That rule only applies to foreigners.

9. (obsolete) To busy; to keep at work; to ply.
   • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:

     She was no less skillful in applying his humours.

10. (obsolete) To visit.
    • [1611?], Homer, “(please specify |book=I to XXIV)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volumes (please specify the book number), London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC:

      His armour was so clear,
      And he applied each place so fast, that like a lightning thrown
      Out of the shield of Jupiter, in every eye he shone.

      The spelling has been modernized.

• → Cebuano: aplay

From apple +‎ -y.

• IPA^(key): /ˈæp(ə)li/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

apply (comparative more apply, superlative most apply)

2. Alternative spelling of appley

• “apply”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• lappy