Learn English – Another word for “apply”

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I'm in the middle of creating a web form, where users can apply for a certain service. In order to do so, they are clicking the apply button. Then they fill out a form and submit it. Later on, they can view their application status, which indicates whether the application has been processed or not.

Are there other words for apply and application status which could be used in this situation? Please note, this is not a sign up process, since not everybody meets the asked requirements.

Best Answer

Probably not the best word choices.

For one thing, the verb apply has several meanings, beyond the one you intend. A naive user might well believe that your service would be "applied to them" (somehow) if they press the "apply" button. If you haven't been astonished yet at what naive users can believe, get ready.

For another thing, the noun application also has a number of meanings, of which one (the one that gets shortened to app and shows up as a file type .app in some systems) is central to any computing usage. The fact that that isn't what you mean probably won't help; I suggest you don't give this confusion any room to grow.

You need something that does more than merely imply a communication request instead of a piece of software. I'd go for Submit or Post for the button label, and Status of your Submission instead of Application Status.

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