applying

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of apply.

   He spent the morning applying a fresh coat of paint to the fence.

   Applying for the grant required three letters of recommendation.

   Note

   The -ing form does double duty. After a form of be it builds the progressive (she is applying the glue). At the head of a phrase it acts as a noun (applying for the grant took weeks). It also carries the verb's reflexive use: applying oneself to a task means working at it diligently. It shares its spelling with the noun for the act, which takes the and of rather than a direct object.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act of putting something onto a surface or of putting it to use for a particular purpose.

   The repeated applying of heat eventually loosened the rusted seal.

   Successful treatment depends on the correct applying of the medication.

   Similarapplication, administration, use

   Note

   A noun that usually stays uncountable, as in the applying of heat or the careful applying of a remedy, yet it can still take a plural. Charles Stewart Parnell's Report of the Trial of the Queen (1881) dismisses "meek and gentle applyings to Parliament," where each applying is a separate appeal. In the plural it comes close to application in the sense of a request or petition.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2