Other forms: applied, applying, applies
To apply is to put yourself forward for something in the official way — filling in the form, attaching the CV, sending it off and then waiting. You apply for a job, for a visa, for a grant, and you apply to a university or a company.
The prepositions carry the meaning: apply FOR the thing you want, apply TO the place that decides. Apply also means putting a substance onto a surface — apply the cream twice a day, apply a thin coat of glue — and making a rule bear on a case: the discount applies to members only, the same rule applies here. Apply yourself means work hard and concentrate, and it is nearly always said to someone who is not. The two nouns are application, which is both the form and the putting-on, and applicant, which is the person.
1verbapplyTo make a formal written request for a job, a place or permission.
“She applied for three jobs in one afternoon.”
2verbspreadTo spread or put a substance onto a surface.
“Apply the ointment to the burn twice a day.”
3verbrelevantTo be relevant to a particular person or situation.
“The rule applies to everyone in the building, visitors included.”
4verbuseTo use something in a practical situation.
“He applied what he had learned on the course to his own kitchen.”
5verbworkTo work at something with steady effort and attention.
“If she applied herself, she would finish it in an hour.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
Old French
applier
Middle English
aplien
English, today
apply
From Middle English aplien, from Old French applier. See applicant, ply.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA