English edit

Etymology edit

mis- +‎ apply

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

misapply (third-person singular simple present misapplies, present participle misapplying, simple past and past participle misapplied)

  1. To apply incorrectly; to misuse.
    • 1913, Sir Frederick Pollock, Robert Campbell, Oliver Augustus Saunders, The Revised Reports:
      It may be that the jury in this case have misapplied the rule laid down by this Court, but not in favour of the defendants. I cannot help thinking they might well have held the watercourse to be the true boundary line between the two properties.