application

/ˌa-plə-ˈkā-shən/

Middle English applicacioun, borrowed from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French applicacion, borrowed from Medieval Latin applicātiōn-, applicātiō "bringing into contact, coming to shore, bringing into use for a particular purpose," going back to Latin, "act of attaching or joining," from applicāre "to bring into contact (with), situate near, bring to bear (on)" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action

noun

  1. an act of applying:

  2. an act of putting something to use

  3. a use to which something is put

application of paint to a house

noun

  1. a set of rules that allows programmers to develop software for a particular operating system without having to be completely familiar with that operating system —abbreviation API

To fix this problem, trustbusters have installed a provision forcing Microsoft to disclose more information about its so-called application programming interfaces, or APIs.

noun

  1. a company that provides software (as for email or payroll accounting) that is accessible over the Internet instead of being stored on individual computers —abbreviation ASP