APPLY (ONESELF) Synonyms: 84 Similar and Opposite Words

apply (oneself)

verb

Definition of apply (oneself)

as in to buckle (down)

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for apply (oneself)

Verb

Cubs closer Jacob Webb picked up the save on 13 pitches in the ninth.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 8 Aug. 2026
The City of Los Angeles has also pitched in to relief efforts, with Mayor Karen Bass declaring a state of emergency and sending mobile health care clinics to the neighborhood.

— Celina Tebor, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of pitch in

Verb

In Children Playing on the Beach, 1884, two pudgy and sunburned girls dig in the sand.

— Carmen Rosenberg-Miller, Artforum, 6 Aug. 2026
But journalism has gotten so much smaller, and academia is also very precarious — and the idea of an academic writing in any kind of consumer-facing press is now considered a dig in your tenure file.

— Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2026

Definition of dig in

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

Definition of slave

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

Definition of knuckle down

Verb

To heat-style, blow-dry curtain bangs away from the face, sweeping them from side to side with a paddle brush.

— Ariel Wodarcyk, InStyle, 9 June 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

Definition of bang away

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applying (to)

apply (oneself)

apply (to)

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“Apply (oneself).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apply%20%28oneself%29. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of apply (oneself)

verb

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