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Obtain vs Apply - What's the difference?

obtain | apply |

In transitive terms the difference between obtain and apply

is that obtain is to get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way while apply is to betake; to address; to refer; generally used reflexively.

In intransitive terms the difference between obtain and apply

is that obtain is to exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force while apply is to pertain or be relevant to a specified individual or group.

As an adjective apply is

an alternative spelling of lang=en.

obtain

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way.
  • * 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Luke XVIII:
  • And a certayne ruler axed him: sayinge: Goode Master: what ought I to do, to obtaine eternall lyfe?
  • * 1814 , (Jane Austen), (Mansfield Park) :
  • Julia was quite as eager for novelty and pleasure as Maria, though she might not have struggled through so much to obtain them, and could better bear a subordinate situation.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained .}}
  • (obsolete) To secure (that) a specific objective or state of affairs be reached.
  • * 1722 , (Daniel Defoe), (Colonel Jack) :
  • he was condemned to die for the felony, and being so well known for an old offender, had certainly died, but the merchant, upon his earnest application, had obtained that he should be transported, on condition that he restored all the rest of his bills, which he had done accordingly.
  • (obsolete) To prevail, be victorious; to succeed.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , III.2:
  • “O daughter deare!” (said she) “despeire no whit; / For never sore but might a salve obtain [...].”
  • * 1701 , (Jonathan Swift), Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome :
  • This, though it failed at present, yet afterward obtained , and was a mighty step to the ruin of the commonwealth.
  • (obsolete) To hold; to keep, possess or occupy.
  • * 1671 , (John Milton), (Paradise Regained) , Book I:
  • His mother then is mortal, but his Sire / He who obtains the monarchy of Heav'n, / And what will he not do to advance his Son?
  • To exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force.
  • * 1908 , (Jack London), (The Iron Heel) , ,
  • Even though the Pervaise confession had never come to light, no reasonable doubt could obtain ; for the act in question was on a par with countless other acts committed by the oligarchs, and, before them, by the capitalists.
  • * 1992 , (Neal Stephenson), (Snow Crash) , Bantam Spectra, p. 460,
  • But the hostage situation no longer obtains , and so Uncle Enzo feels it important to stop Rife now,

    apply

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) applier, ((etyl) appliquer), from (etyl) . See applicant, ply.

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • 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.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , author= , title=Translation of Virgil's Aeneid , passage=He said, and to the sword his throat applied . , year=1697}}
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • * (rfdate) Milton,
  • Yet God at last To Satan, first in sin, his doom applied .
  • To fix closely; to engage and employ diligently, or with attention; to attach; to incline.
  • * 1611 , '', ''Proverbs 23:12,
  • Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
  • To betake; to address; to refer; generally used reflexively.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • sacred vows applied to grisly Pluto
  • * (rfdate) Johnson
  • I applied myself to him for help.
  • To submit oneself as a candidate (with the adposition "to" designating the recipient of the submission, and the adposition "for" designating the position).
  • I recently applied to the tavern for a job as a bartender.
    Most of the colleges she applied to were ones she thought she had a good chance of getting into.
    Many of them don't know it, but almost a third of the inmates are eligible to apply for parole or work-release programs.
  • To pertain or be relevant to a specified individual or group.
  • That rule only applies to foreigners.
  • (obsolete) To busy; to keep at work; to ply.
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
  • She was skillful in applying his humours.
  • (obsolete) To visit.
  • * Chapman
  • His armour was so clear, / And he applied each place so fast, that like a lightning thrown / Out of the shield of Jupiter, in every eye he shone.
    (Webster 1913)

    Etymology 2

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • References

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    Anagrams

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