- present participle of advertise.
advertising
Americannoun
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the act or practice of calling public attention to one's product, service, need, etc., especially by paid announcements in newspapers and magazines, over radio or television, on billboards, etc..
to get more customers by advertising.
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paid announcements; advertisements.
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the profession of planning, designing, and writing advertisements.
noun
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the promotion of goods or services for sale through impersonal media, such as radio or television
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the business that specializes in creating such publicity
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advertisements collectively; publicity
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of advertising
Explanation
Advertising is the act of drawing the public’s attention to something, usually to sell it. Whatever is written on the sandwich board you're wearing is what you're advertising. Advertising is getting the word out — whether it’s on a billboard, in a magazine ad, on a commercial, on the side of a blimp, or by singing it from the highest mountaintop. If you want to let people know about a product, service, or candidate, you run an advertising campaign. The word advertising may also be used for the advertisements themselves or the business of creating advertisements.
Vocabulary lists containing advertising
Material World: Shopping Lingo
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"Ad Power," "Without Commercials," and "What's Wrong with Advertising"
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 7
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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.
The advertising agency has since acknowledged its mistake and refunded the money.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The advertising group’s top-line growth picked up, with continued market-share gains after the merger of two rivals boosted its prospects for next year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Antonia set up a Facebook page and began advertising on Gumtree.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Sebastian added that Instagram and Facebook could benefit from new user experiences as well as better ad recommendations — though Meta emphasized that personal Muse conversations will not be shared directly with its advertising systems.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
There was a poster in its window advertising Will’s circus.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
