- advance
- [[t]ædvɑ͟ːns, -væ̱ns[/t]]
♦♦advances, advancing, advanced1) VERB To advance means to move forward, often in order to attack someone.
[V prep/adv] Reports from Chad suggest that rebel forces are advancing on the capital...
According to one report, the water is advancing at a rate of between 5cm and 7cm a day...
[V-ing] The Daily Telegraph carries a picture of a man throwing himself before an advancing tank.
2) VERB To advance means to make progress, especially in your knowledge of something.→ See also advancedNow that medical technology has advanced to its present state, more people are aware of how long one can be kept alive...
Japan has advanced from a rural, feudal society to an urban, industrial power.
Syn:3) VERB If you advance someone a sum of money, you lend it to them, or pay it to them earlier than arranged.[V n n] I advanced him some money, which he would repay on our way home...
[V n] The bank advanced $1.2 billion to help the country with debt repayments.
Syn:4) N-COUNT An advance is money which is lent or paid to someone before they would normally receive it.She was paid a ₤100,000 advance for her next two novels.
5) VERB To advance an event, or the time or date of an event, means to bring it forward to an earlier time or date.[V n] Too much protein in the diet may advance the ageing process...
[V n] The country's election commission has advanced the date of parliamentary elections by three days.
Syn:Ant:6) VERB If you advance a cause, interest, or claim, you support it and help to make it successful.[V n] When not producing art of his own, Oliver was busy advancing the work of others.
Syn:Ant:7) VERB: usu passive When a theory or argument is advanced, it is put forward for discussion.[be V-ed] Many theories have been advanced as to why some women suffer from depression...
[be V-ed] An important set of ideas have been advanced by the biologist Rupert Sheldrake.
Syn:8) N-VAR An advance is a forward movement of people or vehicles, usually as part of a military operation.In an exercise designed to be as real as possible, they simulated an advance on enemy positions...
The defences are intended to obstruct any advance by tanks and other vehicles.
Syn:Ant:9) N-PLURAL If you make advances to someone, you try to start a sexual relationship with them. [OLD-FASHIONED]Mark had for some time been making advances towards her...
She rejected his advances during the trip to Cannes.
10) N-VAR An advance in a particular subject or activity is progress in understanding it or in doing it well.Air safety has not improved since the dramatic advances of the 1970s...
Their progress at work was mirrored by their children's educational advance.
Syn:11) N-SING: usu a N on n If something is an advance on what was previously available or done, it is better in some way.This could be an advance on the present situation.
12) ADJ: ADJ n Advance booking, notice, or warning is done or given before an event happens.They don't normally give any advance notice about which building they're going to inspect...
The event received little advance publicity.
13) ADJ: ADJ n An advance party or group is a small group of people who go on ahead of the main group.The 20-strong advance party will be followed by another 600 soldiers as part of UN relief efforts.
Syn:expeditionary14) PHR-PREP If one thing happens or is done in advance of another, it happens or is done before the other thing.I had asked everyone to submit questions in advance of the meeting.
Syn:15) PHRASE: PHR after v If you do something in advance, you do it before a particular date or event.The subject of the talk is announced a week in advance.
English dictionary. 2008.
