Therefore, necessarily, his whitened locks and waning forces find him consciously deficient in nearly every qualification for either a good historian or good expounder and applier of any theory pertaining to profound and intricate subjects involving occult agents and forces.
"Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism"
Allen Putnam
The only Dictionary in which I have found it with this meaning is Entick's, in which it is given under the word applier.
"A Collection of College Words and Customs"
Benjamin Homer Hall
Once, when asked by a paint-applier who was entitled to append two signs of exceptional distinction behind his name, to express an opinion upon a finished work, I diffidently called his attention to the fact that he had forgotten to introduce a certain exalted one's left ear.
"The Mirror of Kong Ho"
Ernest Bramah