Meaning of apply in English
Table of contents
Pronunciation
/əˈplaɪ/US accent
UK accent
to browse different examples of pronunciation.Verb
applyEtymology
late Middle English: from Old French aplier, from Latin applicare‘fold, fasten to’, from ad-‘to’ + plicare‘to fold’Definitions
1. put into serviceExamples
- « make work or employ (something) for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose »
- « use your head! »
- « we only use Spanish at home »
- « I can't make use of this tool »
- « Apply a magnetic field here »
- « This thinking was applied »
Derived terms
- 2. be pertinent or relevant or applicable
Examples
- « The same laws apply to you! »
- « This theory holds for all irrational numbers »
- « The same rules go for everyone »
- 3. ask (for something)
Examples
- « He applied for a leave of absence »
- « She applied for college »
- « apply for a job »
Derived terms
- 4. apply to a surface
Examples
- « She applied paint to the back of the house »
- « Put on make-up! »
Derived terms
- 5. be applicable to
Examples
- « as to an analysis »
- « This theory lends itself well to our new data »
Antonyms
Derived terms
- 6. give or convey physically
Examples
- « She gave him First Aid »
- « I gave him a punch in the nose »
- 7. avail oneself to
Examples
- « apply a principle »
- « practice a religion »
- « use care when going down the stairs »
- « use your common sense »
- « practice non-violent resistance »
Derived terms
- 8. ensure observance of laws and rules
Examples
- « Apply the rules to everyone; »
Antonyms
Derived terms
- 9. refer (a word or name) to a person or thing
Examples
- « He applied this racial slur to me! »
Derived terms
- 10. apply oneself to
Examples
- « Please apply yourself to your homework »
Derived terms
Famous quotes
- « In our recovery package we put new standards of accountability and transparency, which we hope will now apply. » Nancy Pelosi
- « Between falsehood and useless truth there is little difference. As gold which he cannot spend will make no man rich, so knowledge which cannot apply will make no man wise. » Samuel Johnson
- « There's already a marriage clock, a career clock, a biological clock. Sometimes being a woman feels like standing in the lobby of a hotel, looking at the dials depicting every time zone in the world behind the front desk - except they all apply to you, and all at once. » Sloane Crosley
- « I knew from the beginning that privacy was going to be a huge issue, especially with regard to applying Total Information Awareness in counterterrorism. Because if the technology development was successful, a logical place to apply it was inside the United States. » John Poindexter
- « Questioning the nature and implications of liminal instances necessarily involves failure, if only in the specifically technical sense of entering spaces where prevailing criteria of success scarcely apply. » Brian Ferneyhough