apply oneself

English

WOTD – 20 August 2006

Pronunciation

Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

apply oneself (third-person singular simple present applies oneself, present participle applying oneself, simple past and past participle applied oneself)

(idiomatic) To put forth a concerted effort; to try; to focus.
His parents wished he'd applied himself better while he was in school.

Translations

to put forth a concerted effort

Czech: snažit se (cs)
Finnish: ponnistella (fi), yrittää (fi)
French: s'appliquer (fr)
Icelandic: leggja sig fram (leggja sig fram)
Italian: impegnarsi (it)

Maori: ngaki (mi)
Portuguese: aplicar-se
Spanish: esforzarse (es), aplicarse (es)
Swedish: anstränga (sv) (sig)