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apply (oneself)

verb

Definition of apply (oneself)next
as in to buckle (down)

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for apply (oneself)
  1. pitch in
  2. dig in
  3. slave
  4. knuckle down
  5. labor
  6. bang away
  7. struggle
Verb
  • Steele, who hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since April 2025, is an option for this weekend in Boston, Counsell said Tuesday.
    — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Kelly Sims, an employee at OpenAI investor Thrive Capital, is also pitching in to manage Altman’s communications.
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of pitch in
Verb
  • On an archaeological dig in Sulawesi, an island in modern-day Indonesia, Brumm and his colleagues excavated some very old human remains.
    — Pien Huang, NPR, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Know More Republican leaders are preparing for Democratic opponents of the college sports bill to dig in, dragging out the rest of the schedule.
    — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 18 Sep. 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
  • But for Spring/Summer 2027, the dust has largely settled, as many from this fresh cohort knuckle down and develop their second or third collections.
    — Lucy Maguire, Vogue, 18 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Definition of knuckle down
Verb
  • McNeely’s portrait of a laboring mother, swathed in glowing fields of chartreuse, outshines (again, literally) art history’s greats.
    — Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 18 Sep. 2026
  • In line with the great tech selloff over AI spending fears, Capgemini’s share price has been laboring.
    — Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of labor
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
Verb
  • But when her character — saucy British writer Constance Clavinger — turns out to be a handful (getting drunk at the airport bar, for starters), Homer struggles to get her to the school on time.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Three families who are very close friends struggle daily with the teenagers at home.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of struggle
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.

Browse Nearby Words

applying (to)
apply (oneself)
apply (to)
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Cite this Entry

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

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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