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To furnish or apply; to afford; to supply; to administer. He that ministereth seed to the sower. 2 Cor. ix. 10. We minister to God reason to suspect us. Jer. Taylor.

To treat or use improperly; to use to a bad purpose; to misapply; as, to misuse one's talents. South. The sweet poison of misused wine. Milton.

To apply to a moral purpose; to explain in a moral sense; to draw a moral from. This fable is moralized in a common proverb. L'Estrange. Did he not moralize this spectacle Shak.

To apply to, as for aid. [Obs.] Shak.

me (Gram.), a name applied to a particular person, place, or thing. -- To call names, to apply opprobrious epithets to; to call by reproachful appellations. -- To take a name in vain, to use a name lightly or profanely; to use a name in making flippant or dishonest oaths. Ex. xx. 7.

One of a group of philologists who apply phonetic laws more widely and strictly than was formerly done, and who maintain that these laws admit of no real exceptions. --Ne`o*gram*mat"ic*al (#), a.

To give or apply a number or numbers to; to assign the place of in a series by order of number; to designate the place of by a number or numeral; as, to number the houses in a street, or the apartments in a building.

tings, which sometimes are seen to project from the surface of the ware. (b) Suitable for applying upon the glaze; -- said of vitrifiable colors used in ceramic decoration.

To cover with coloring matter; to apply paint to; as, to paint a house, a signboard, etc. Jezebel painted her face and tired her head. 2 Kings ix. 30.

An instrument used to take up gold leaf from the pillow, and to apply it.

The distinct articulation of the sounds of a patient's voice, heard on applying the ear to the chest in auscultation. It usually indicates some morbid change in the lungs or pleural cavity.

ht; a diverting from the true intent or object; a change to something worse; a turning or applying to a wrong end or use. "Violations and perversions of the laws." Bacon.

opriety; to divert from a right use, end, or way; to lead astray; to corrupt; also, to misapply; to misinterpret designedly; as, to pervert one's words. Dryden. He, in the serpent, had perverted Eve. Milton.

The art of casting and working in lead, and applying it to building purposes; especially, the business of furnishing, fitting, and repairing pipes for conducting water, sewage, etc. Gwilt.

To apply pollen to (a stigma). -- Pol`li*na"tion, n. (Bot.)

To apply a poultice to; to dress with a poultice.

Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind.

A easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.

f which is to receive and modify force and motion as supplied by some natural source, and apply them to drive other machines; as a water wheel, a water- pressure engine, a steam engine, a hot-air engine, etc. (c) Fig.: The original or the most effective force in any undertaking or work; as, Clarkson was the prime mover…

To make impervious to liquids by means of puddle; to apply puddle to.