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advance

verb · noun · adjective

Simple meaning

To move forward in space or time.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhdvans

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ədˈvæns

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. To move forward in space or time.

    “We have to advance clocks and watches when we travel eastward.”

  2. intransitive

    To move forward in time; to progress towards completion.

  3. intransitive

    To move forwards; to approach.

  4. To move or push (something) forwards, especially forcefully.

  5. Contribute to the progress or growth of

  6. To help the progress of (something); to further.

noun

  1. An amount of money or credit, especially given as a loan, or paid before it is due; an advancement.

  2. A forward move; improvement or progression.

  3. often in the plural

    An opening approach or overture, now especially of an unwelcome or sexual nature.

  4. An addition to the price; rise in price or value.

adjective

  1. Completed before necessary or a milestone event.

  2. Forward.

  3. Preceding.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To move forward in space or time.

Used this way, advance is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“We have to advance clocks and watches when we travel eastward.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • get ahead , more casual, better suited to speech than writing

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use advance

  • “We have to advance clocks and watches when we travel eastward.”verb
  • “Can you advance me some money?”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

advance guardgreat advancefurther advancerapid advance

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • advancementnounDerived noun

    Encouragement of the progress or growth or acceptance of something.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • advance death benefitnounCompound term

    A percentage of death benefits paid directly to policy holders having a short life expectancy (usually 6 months).

  • advanced research and development activitynounCompound term

    An agency of the Intelligence Community that conducts advanced research and development related to information technology.

  • annuity in advancenounCompound term

    An annuity paid in a series of more or less equal payments at the beginning of equally spaced periods.

  • cash advancenounCompound term

    An amount paid before it is earned.

  • defense advanced research projects agencynounCompound term

    The central research and development organization for the United States Department of Defense.

  • film advancenounCompound term

    A mechanism for advancing film in a camera or projector.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to move forward in space or time

further

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.