advance
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to move or bring forward.
The general advanced his troops to the new position.
- Antonyms:
- withdraw
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to bring into consideration or notice; suggest; propose.
to advance reasons for a tax cut.
- Antonyms:
- withdraw
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to improve; further.
to advance one's interests.
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to raise in rank; promote.
The board of directors advanced him to president.
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to raise in rate or amount; increase.
to advance the price.
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to bring forward in time; accelerate.
to advance growth;
to advance clocks one hour.
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to supply beforehand; furnish on credit or before goods are delivered or work is done.
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to furnish as part of a stock or fund.
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to supply or pay in expectation of reimbursement.
They advanced her $5000 against future royalties.
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to schedule at a later time or date.
to advance a meeting from early to late fall.
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Informal. to do advance publicity for.
to advance a rock singer's personal appearances;
the most heavily advanced sports event in history.
-
Archaic. to raise, as a banner.
verb (used without object)
-
to move or go forward; proceed.
The troops advanced.
- Antonyms:
- retreat
-
to increase in quantity, value, price, etc..
His stock advanced three points.
-
(of a color, form, etc., on a flat surface) to move toward or be perceived as moving toward an observer, especially as giving the illusion of space.
-
to improve or make progress.
-
to grow or rise in importance, status, etc..
to advance in rank.
- Antonyms:
- decrease
-
Informal. to provide publicity; do promotion.
He was hired to advance for a best-selling author.
noun
-
a forward movement; progress in space.
the advance of the troops to the border.
-
promotion; improvement in importance, rank, etc..
his advance to the position of treasurer.
- Synonyms:
- advancement, growth
-
Usually advances.
-
attempts at forming an acquaintanceship, reaching an agreement, or the like, made by one party.
-
actions or words intended to be sexually inviting.
-
-
addition to price; rise in price.
an advance on cottons.
-
Commerce.
-
a giving beforehand; a furnishing of something before an equivalent is received.
An advance on his next month's salary permitted him to pay his debt on time.
-
the money or goods thus furnished.
He received $100 as an advance against future delivery.
-
-
Journalism.
-
copy prepared before the event it describes has occurred.
The morning papers carried advances on the ceremony, which will take place tonight.
-
a press release, wire-service dispatch, or the like, as one containing the text or partial text of a speech, sent to arrive in advance of the event to which it is related.
-
-
the leading body of an army.
- Synonyms:
- spearhead, van, vanguard, advance guard
-
Military. (formerly) the order or a signal to advance.
-
Informal.
-
publicity done before the appearance of a noted person, a public event, etc..
She was hired to do advance for the candidate.
-
a person hired to do advance publicity for an event.
He is regarded as the best advance in the business.
-
-
Automotive, Machinery. an adjustment made in the setting of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine to generate the spark for ignition in each cylinder earlier in the cycle.
-
Geology. a seaward movement of the shoreline.
adjective
-
going or placed before.
an advance section of a train.
-
made or given ahead of time.
an advance payment on a loan.
-
issued ahead of time.
an advance copy of the president's speech.
-
having gone beyond others or beyond the average.
idioms
-
in advance of, in front of; before.
Heralds walked in advance of the king.
-
in advance, ahead of time; beforehand.
You must get your tickets in advance.
verb
-
to go or bring forward in position
-
(foll by on) to move (towards) in a threatening manner
-
(tr) to present for consideration; suggest
-
to bring or be brought to a further stage of development; improve; further
-
(tr) to cause (an event) to occur earlier
-
(tr) to supply (money, goods, etc) beforehand, either for a loan or as an initial payment
-
to increase (a price, value, rate of occurrence, etc) or (of a price, etc) to be increased
-
(intr) to improve one's position; be promoted
he advanced rapidly in his job
-
archaic (tr) to promote in rank, status, or position
noun
-
forward movement; progress in time or space
-
improvement; progress in development
-
commerce
-
the supplying of commodities or funds before receipt of an agreed consideration
-
the commodities or funds supplied in this manner
-
( as modifier )
an advance supply
-
-
Also called: advance payment. a money payment made before it is legally due
this is an advance on your salary
-
a loan of money
-
an increase in price, value, rate of occurrence, etc
-
a less common word for advancement
-
-
beforehand
payment in advance
-
(foll by of) ahead in time or development
ideas in advance of the time
-
-
(modifier) forward in position or time
advance booking
an advance warning
Synonym Usage
Advance, move on, proceed all imply movement forward. Advance applies to forward movement, especially toward an objective: to advance to a platform. Proceed emphasizes movement, as from one place to another, and often implies continuing after a halt: to proceed on one's journey. Move on is similar in meaning to proceed; it does not, however, imply a definite goal: The crowd was told to move on.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
advancesimple
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advancessimple
-
have advancedperfect
-
has advancedperfect
-
am advancingprogressive
-
are advancingprogressive
-
is advancingprogressive
-
have been advancingperfect progressive
-
has been advancingperfect progressive
Past
-
advancedsimple
-
had advancedperfect
-
was advancingprogressive
-
were advancingprogressive
-
had been advancingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of advance
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English avauncen, from Anglo-French, Old French avanc(i)er, from Vulgar Latin abantiāre (unrecorded), verb derived from Late Latin abante “in front (of ),” from Latin ab “away from, off” + ante “before”; ad- by mistaking a- for a- 5 in the 16th century
Explanation
The experience of having a wild monkey advance on you is pretty scary. The verb advance means "move forward purposefully." When you move forward, you advance. You can advance a chess piece on a board, advance toward someone across a room, or observe an army as it advances into a country. Advance also means "make progress," as when you advance your knowledge of Spanish by traveling to Ecuador, or "to loan money," which a bank does by making an advance of a thousand dollars. Since the 1700s, to make advances has also meant to make romantic overtures or to flirt.
Vocabulary lists containing advance
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 2
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The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 2
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The ACT: The Language of the Test, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"We're doing this to slow down the fire's advance; we want to save our homes," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Demand for advance tickets caused AMC’s app to crash in June.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Warsh made it clear he wants a more tight-lipped central bank, one that isn’t telegraphing the Fed’s plans for interest rates in advance.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
Shouldn’t the ASA and its individual members similarly deploy their research to inveigh against injustice and advance social change?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Thorn and Seven had been reading the advance copy Valley had snuck into Seven’s backpack together any chance they got.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
These immune cells help monitor and protect the brain, but their behavior can change dramatically as Alzheimer's advances.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
"Colorectal cancer is highly treatable when found early, and surgical advances continue to make treatment less invasive," Dr. Boutros said.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
"Together, these two agreements lay the legal foundation for a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership that advances several priority economic and strategic objectives, including nuclear nonproliferation," the department said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Meanwhile, he will have to capitalise on Ukraine's remarkable technological advances and the burgeoning tech defence industry that has spearheaded Ukraine's recent battlefield successes.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
In the usual experience of archaeologists, inventions are supposed to flow from mainlands to islands, and small peripheral societies aren’t supposed to contribute revolutionary advances to the rest of the world.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
“Weak balance sheets, high-beta growth, and low quality earnings factors started to underperform even as the S&P 500 advanced and growth strengthened,” they said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
An ancestor first lost its paired eyes after becoming largely inactive, retained a simple central eye, and later used parts of that structure to build a new and more advanced visual system.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
In the new study, the team developed a more advanced approach that produced a silver estimate 55 percent higher than before.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
The legislation would require developers of the most advanced artificial-intelligence systems to maintain the ability to slow down, suspend or shut down their models if they pose serious risks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
A heavy fog helped German troops break through British defenses, and by the end of March the Germans had advanced as far as forty miles.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
AI’s advancing proficiencies—especially for crafting nefarious biological and cyber-based plans—are alarming senior executives at AI companies and the White House.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Hundreds of people fled by boat from a peninsula in western France on Friday, as authorities ordered it evacuated in the face of a rapidly advancing wildfire.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
"We are going to reorganise our response so we can fight it from the ground and prevent it from advancing toward Bordeaux," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
"AI is going to keep advancing, and it should," Moran added.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
My T-shirt was damp with sweat, and I felt the night chill of the advancing rainy season pierce through me as I stepped outside.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
