as in to buckle (down)
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apply (oneself)
Verb
-
Stoudt pitched for the Reds in 2023, but hasn’t pitched in the majors since then.—
C. Trent Rosecrans,
New York Times,
15 Apr. 2026 -
De los Santos took the place of Jake Bird, who was optioned on Monday night, and totaled three hits, one earned run — a homer to Yoán Moncada — two walks and one strikeout over two innings and 44 pitches in the Yankees’ 7-1 loss to the Angels on Tuesday.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Diners dig in surrounded by a dizzying mishmash of décor, like a rotating roster of VHS tapes that play on a projector screen or artwork sourced from longtime customers and Indiana's finest Goodwill stores.—
USA TODAY NETWORK,
USA Today,
17 Apr. 2026
-
For anyone who appreciates comfort food done right — the kind of no-frills, generous cooking that defines great food cities — this is the place to dig in.—
Lauren Schuster,
Kansas City Star,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Magadan had a deadly reputation in the Stalin era, as a hub for Gulag mines where political prisoners slaved sometimes to death and produced gold and other minerals in the process.—
Ian Frazier,
New Yorker,
19 Jan. 2026
-
Po’s journey begins while slaving away at his boring noodle job on the day the Dragon Warrior is to be chosen.—
Skyler Trepel,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Teams will use the five-week gap between the races in Japan and Miami to knuckle down at their factories and develop car upgrades that could boost their fortunes upon returning to the track in May.—
Luke Smith,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
-
In survival mode, many brands have been forced to knuckle down and fortify their business strategies, in hopes of setting them up for success against a difficult backdrop.—
Madeleine Schulz,
Vogue,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Like the women who labor here, the mundu chile is sturdy, tough and resilient.—
Kamala Thiagarajan,
NPR,
19 Apr. 2026
-
In many years on dairy farms, the worker often labored for 10 hours with no breaks.—
Melissa Gomez,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Blow-dry bangs away from the face with a round brush or Velcro rollers for effortless-looking volume.—
Ariel Wodarcyk,
InStyle,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Brian Cashman gets it all the time, but good, from Yankee fans; for them, banging away at Cashman on social media feels like the real national pastime.—
Mike Lupica,
New York Daily News,
16 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The Niners have struggled with consistency from their wide receivers, largely due to injuries.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
21 Apr. 2026
-
The plant, which was the state’s largest maker of panelized components, struggled under the weight of reduced demand because of higher interest rates and fluctuating lumber costs.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
21 Apr. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Apply (oneself).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apply%20%28oneself%29. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
