apply oneself vs essay

apply oneself

verb
  • Synonym of strive: to work hard, to complete an activity with good effort and focus. 

essay

verb
  • To move forth, as into battle. 

noun
  • A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject. 

  • A proposed design for a postage stamp or a banknote. 

How often have the words apply oneself and essay occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )