application

Noun

application (countable and uncountable, plural applications)

1. The act of physically applying or laying on.
   • The application of this cream should reduce the swelling.
2. The substance applied.
   • His body was stripped, laid out upon a table, and covered with a hearsecloth, when some of his attendants perceived symptoms of returning animation, and by the use of warm applications, internal and external, gradually restored him to life.1857, John Eadie, John Francis Waller, William John Macquorn Rankine, The Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography
3. The act of applying as a means; the employment of means to accomplish an end; specific use.
   • All that I have hitherto contended for, is, that whatsoever rigor is necessary, it is more to be us'd, the younger children are; and having by a due application wrought its effect, it is to be relax'd, and chang'd into a milder sort of government.1693, [John Locke], “§43”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC
   • What sets fiber lasers apart is their ability to mark (engrave) metal, which opens up a range of possibilities as a complement to woodworking. Brass nameplates for awards or plaques are an obvious application, but it goes further than that.2026 August, Logan Wittmer, “Omtech 60W Autofocus MOPA Fiber Laser”, in Popular Woodworking, volume 290, number 4, page 10
4. The act of directing or referring something to a particular case, to discover or illustrate agreement or disagreement, fitness, or correspondence.
   • I make the remark, and leave you to make the application.
   • The application of a theory to a set of data can be challenging.
5. A computer program or the set of software that the end user perceives as a single entity as a tool for a well-defined purpose. (Also called: application program; application software.)
   • This application can connect to most social networks.
   • Saeed straightened and held up his phone, directing its camera at the heavens, consulting an application that indicated the names of celestial bodies he did not know.2017, Mohsin Hamid, Exit West, Hamish Hamilton, page 15
6. A verbal or written request for assistance or employment or admission to a school, course or similar.
   • December 31 is the deadline for MBA applications.
7. (bureaucracy) A petition, entreaty, or other request, with the adposition for denoting the subject matter.
   • Their application for a deferral of the hearing was granted.
8. The act of requesting, claiming, or petitioning something.
9. Diligence; close thought or attention.
10. A kind of needlework; appliqué.
11. The substitution of a specific value for the parameter in the abstraction, in lambda calculus.
12. (obsolete) Compliance.