Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Apply

Ap·ply′ (ăp·plī′), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Applied; p. pr. & vb. n. Applying.] [OF. aplier, F. appliquer, fr. L. applicare to join, fix, or attach to; ad + plicare to fold, to twist together. See Applicant, Ply.] 1. To lay or place; to put or adjust (one thing to another); — with to; as, to apply the hand to the breast; to apply medicaments to a diseased part of the body.

He said, and the sword his throat applied. Dryden.

2. To put to use; to use or employ for a particular purpose, or in a particular case; to appropriate; to devote; as, to apply money to the payment of a debt.

3. To make use of, declare, or pronounce, as suitable, fitting, or relative; as, to apply the testimony to the case; to apply an epithet to a person.

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

4. To fix closely; to engage and employ diligently, or with attention; to attach; to incline.

Apply thine heart unto instruction. Prov. xxiii. 12.

5. To direct or address. [R.]

Sacred vows . . . applied to grisly Pluto. Pope.

6. To betake; to address; to refer; — used reflexively.

I applied myself to him for help. Johnson.

7. To busy; to keep at work; to ply. [Obs.]

She was skillful in applying his "humors." Sir P. Sidney.

8. To visit. [Obs.]

And he applied each place so fast. Chapman.

Applied chemistry. See under Chemistry. — Applied mathematics. See under Mathematics.

Ap·ply′, v. i. 1. To suit; to agree; to have some connection, agreement, or analogy; as, this argument applies well to the case.

2. To make request; to have recourse with a view to gain something; to make application. (to); to solicit; as, to apply to a friend for information.

3. To ply; to move. [R.]

I heard the sound of an oar applying swiftly through the water. T. Moore.

4. To apply or address one's self; to give application; to attend closely (to).

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.