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
  • They all pitch in at the annual summer festival and are planning to hold urban gardening workshops on the rooftop for students at the elementary school across the street.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Starting with the bottom of the Athletics’ order, Bradley struck out three batters on nine pitches in the fifth inning.
    — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of pitch in
Verb
  • With everyone primed to dig in, only one-third of my students’ time with me is devoted to classic lecturing.
    — Jason Corso, Time, 26 Aug. 2026
  • By the end of the day, Khālid had fortified the palace and was prepared to dig in and fight.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 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
  • Humans engaged user interfaces to command software and engage with outputs like dashboards, while APIs labored in the background.
    — George C. Lee II, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Thoroughly unimpressed by her suburban idyll, and evidently unmoved by her responsibilities as wife and mother, Denise labors in her basement on a novel whose protagonist wishes to forsake her family for a life in New York.
    — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 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
  • Three days later, the team brought in Moody, the former Michigan standout who has also struggled at times in his young career.
    — Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Restaurants and private grocery stores are struggling to stay open because of higher supply costs and lower consumption.
    — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 31 Aug. 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 1 Sep. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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