Ap·ply v. t. [imp. & p. p. Applied p. pr. & vb. n. Applying.]
  1. To lay or place; to put or adjust (one thing to another); -- with to; as, to apply the hand to the breast; to apply medicaments to a diseased part of the body.
     He said, and the sword his throat applied.   --Dryden.
  2. To put to use; to use or employ for a particular purpose, or in a particular case; to appropriate; to devote; as, to apply money to the payment of a debt.
  3. To make use of, declare, or pronounce, as suitable, fitting, or relative; as, to apply the testimony to the case; to apply an epithet to a person.
  Yet God at last
  To Satan, first in sin, his doom applied.   --Milton.
  4. To fix closely; to engage and employ diligently, or with attention; to attach; to incline.
     Apply thine heart unto instruction.   --Prov. xxiii. 12.
  5. To direct or address. [R.]
     Sacred vows . . . applied to grisly Pluto.   --Pope.
  6. To betake; to address; to refer; -- used reflexively.
     I applied myself to him for help.   --Johnson.
  7. To busy; to keep at work; to ply. [Obs.]
     She was skillful in applying his =\“humors.”\=   --Sir P. Sidney.
  8. To visit. [Obs.]
     And he applied each place so fast.   --Chapman.
  Applied chemistry. See under Chemistry.
  Applied mathematics. See under Mathematics.