promotion

American  

[pruh-moh-shuhn] / prəˈmoʊ ʃən /

noun

• promotions
  plural

1. advancement in rank or position.

2. furtherance or encouragement.

3. the act of promoting.

4. the state of being promoted.

5. something devised to publicize or advertise a product, cause, institution, etc., as a brochure, free sample, poster, television or radio commercial, or personal appearance.

6. Also called queening.  Chess. the replacement of a pawn that has reached the enemy's first rank by a more powerful piece of the same color, usually a queen.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonpromotion
  noun
• prepromotion
  noun
• self-promotion
  noun
• promotional
  adjective
• unpromotional
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• promotions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of promotion

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Late Latin prōmōtiōn-, stem of prōmōtiō “movement forward, advancement”; equivalent to promote + -ion

Explanation

A promotion is a raise in pay or stature, or it's a way to raise the profile or attention of something. If you create an advertising promotion that increases sales of spray jeans in a can, for example, you might get a promotion to company vice-president. Words that start with pro- usually hint at something positive or forward moving, and a promotion is a moving up or a motion forward. A product promotion pushes the item out in front so it gets more exposure, and a work or school promotion raises your salary or moves you up a grade. If you’re in the military a promotion means a higher rank, with more people under your command, and the same happens if you earn a promotion in a club or organization like the scouts.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

promotion promotions

The offside rule and promotion and relegation are the butts of repeated jokes and there are discussions of tactics, positions, formations and other game-related details that would have previously frustrated viewers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

Product mix fell 4.2% due to increased promotion activity, a shift in menu mix towards wraps and the removal of ripple fries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Many felt the "tank" was a reference to vehicles deployed to crush pro-democracy protesters and the promotion sparked a mass boycott movement.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Starbucks Korea caused an uproar this year when it launched a "Tank Day" promotion on May 18, touting a new line of capacious tumblers for its coffee beverages.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

He was bold, innovative, blessed with an instinct for promotion, slick, unscrupulous, and completely magnetic.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

The analysis does not account for tickets that may have been sold at a lower price due to promotions, nor concession tickets.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Under O'Neil's popular predecessor Kieran McKenna, who stepped down on 10 June after overseeing three promotions in four full seasons, the Blues targeted players familiar with English football.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Traffic has stalled and customers didn’t respond to promotions it ginned up in the spring.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

Lumutenga shares a hack for cutting back on the promotions flooding our inboxes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

“Think you can get us some promotions with them raises?”

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas