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
  • Grothe says changes to SNAP and Medicaid benefits, a difficult job market and rising costs are driving more people to her Sunday table, and less of them can afford to pitch in.
    — Olivia Young, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Murphy pitched in the low minors for two organizations and for two independent teams before retiring to become a college coach at Maryville, Claremont-Mudd, Notre Dame and Arizona State.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 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
  • Jaylen Wright labored all week, fighting his way back from a foot injury that sidelined him the previous game.
    — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 5 Oct. 2026
  • With the Dodgers’ lead cut to one run, Skubal labored through the rest of the sixth inning, issuing a pair of walks, his first of the game.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 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
  • At that time, the company’s Fisher-Price, Barbie and American Girl brands were struggling to connect with changing consumer tastes and Mattel was reeling from the recent bankruptcy of Toys R Us.
    — Sarah Whitten, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026
  • But, like many Universities, Drexel has been struggling financially, in part due to declining enrollment.
    — Andrew Stelzer, NPR, 3 Oct. 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 9 Oct. 2026.

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