Word.ws English Dictionary

advance

/ədˈvɑːns//ədˈvæns/

advance verb: to help the progress of (something); to further.

Verb

advance (third-person singular simple present advances, present participle advancing, simple past and past participle advanced)

  1. To help the progress of (something); to further.
    • Some see it as in effect the end of the Syrian uprising that began with peaceful protests against Assad’s police state in 2011, with opposition fighters working to advance Turkey’s interests at the expense of the revolution’s goals.2018 January 26, Kareem Shaheen, The Guardian
  2. To raise (someone) in rank or office; to prefer, to promote.
    • After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 3:1
    • This, however, was in time evaded by the monarchs, who advanced certain of their own retainers to a level with the ancient peers of the land[…]1838, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: American Stationers’ Company; John B....
  3. To move or push (something) forwards, especially forcefully.
    • Whence and what art thou, execrable shape, / That dar'st, though grim and terrible, advance / Thy miscreated front athwart my way / To yonder gates?1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker...
  4. To make (something) happen at an earlier time or date; to bring forward, to hasten.
    • [S]in and sorrow it were, considering the hardships of this noble and gallant knight, no whit mentioning or weighing those we ourselves have endured, if we were now either to advance or retard the hour of refection beyond the time when the viands are fit to be set before us.1820 March, [Walter Scott], chapter III, in The Monastery. A Romance. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Co., and John...
    Synonyms:
    accelerate
  5. (intransitive) To move forwards; to approach.
    • I advanced towards him step by step, stopping sometimes for fear of waking him.1829, Marchioness of Lemington, Rosina, or the Virtuous Country Maid, Ninth ed.
    • This army recaptured Wu-chʻang, on the right bank of the Yangtze, in 1854, reached Chen-chiang four years later, advanced to Chiu-chiang and threatened Nanking.2003, C.J. Shane, editor, China (The History of Nations), Greenhaven Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 67
  6. To provide (money or other value) before it is due, or in expectation of some work; to lend.
    • “I had intended to ask you to advance me a hundred pounds,” said Phineas.1869, Anthony Trollope, Phineas Finn
    • On the urgent representations of several parties of the first importance in the City of London, the bank advanced 120,000l. to the Governor and Company of the Copper Miners […].1871, James William Gilbart, The Principles and Practice of Banking
  7. To put forward (an idea, argument etc.); to propose.
    • Some ne'er advance a Judgement of their own, / But catch the spreading notion of the Town […].1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC
    • Ghosts, it is advanced, either do not exist at all, or else, like the stars at noonday, they are there all the time and it is we who cannot see them. The stories in the following pages were written on the second of these assumptions.1935, Oliver Onions, “Credo”, in The Collected Ghost Stories
    Synonyms:
    adduce, allege
  8. (intransitive) To make progress; to do well, to succeed.
    • Earlier the caller said men were more likely to be in senior positions. Clegg says that's partly because the current maternity leave arrangements make it difficult for women to advance in the workplace.2014 April 24, Andrew Sparrow, The Guardian
  9. (intransitive) To move forward in time; to progress towards completion.
    • I can promise you that you will feel even less humorous as the evening advances.1927, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes
  10. (archaic, transitive) To raise; to lift or elevate.
    • The fringed Curtaines of thine eyes aduance.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
    Synonyms:
    heighten
  11. To raise or increase (a price, rate).
    • In February last […] bakers advanced the price of bread sold over the counter in London from 8d. to 8½d. per quartern loaf.1924 July 16, The Times
  12. To increase (a number or amount).
  13. (intransitive) To make a higher bid at an auction.

Noun

advance (plural advances)

  1. A forward move; improvement or progression.
    • an advance in health or knowledge
    • an advance in rank or office
  2. An amount of money or credit, especially given as a loan, or paid before it is due; an advancement.
    • Could he ask the cashier privately for an advance? No, the cashier was no good, no damn good: he wouldn't give an advance.1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “Counterparts”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 109
    • I shall, with pleasure, make the necessary advances.1780, John Jay, letter dated November 21
  3. An addition to the price; rise in price or value.
    • an advance on the prime cost of goods
  4. (in plural, often) An opening approach or overture, now especially of an unwelcome or sexual nature.
    • For, if it were of any use to recall matters of fact, what is more notorious, than that prince's applying himself first to the church of England? and upon their refusal to fall in with his measures, making the like advances to the dissenters of all kinds, who readily and almost universally complied...1708, Jonathan Swift, The Sentiments of a Church of England Man with Respect to Religion and Government
    • And so saying he scampered off to the hill, to the amusement of honest Plat; and it is likely lost no time in making his advances to the young widow.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 198

Adjective

advance (comparative more advance, superlative most advance)

  1. Completed before necessary or a milestone event.
    • He made an advance payment on the prior shipment to show good faith.
    • In general, if you are applying for adjustment of status (a Green Card) and leave the United States without the appropriate travel documentation (for example, an advance parole document), you may not be allowed to reenter the United States when you return.2024 January 15, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), “Green Card”, in USCIS, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, retrieved 24 Jan 2025, Travel Documents
  2. Preceding.
    • The advance man came a month before the candidate.
  3. Forward.
    • The scouts found a site for an advance base.

advance meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

advance in Hindi

to move forwards, to approach
क़रीब आना qarīb ānā, पास आना pās ānā
to furnish, as money or other value, before it becomes due
बयाना देना bayānā denā

advance in Tamil

முன்னேறு, முன்னேகு, முன்னகர், முனை, முந்து, முனனேறு

advance in Marathi

advance
आगाऊ āgāū

advance in Urdu

پیش داشت, پیش قدمی, پیشگی, آگے بڑھنا, آگے کرنا
More languagesFewer languages
advance in Bengali
অগ্রিম ogrim, অগ্রীয় ôgriẏô
advance in Malayalam
മുമ്പോട്ടാക്കുക, പുരോഗതി നേടുക, പണം മുൻകൂർ കൊടുക്കുക
advance in Kannada
ಮುಂದುವರಿ, ಮುಂಗೊಳಿಸು, ಮುಂಕೊಳಿಸು, ಮುಂಚಿಸು
advance in Punjabi
ਵਧਣਾ vadhṇā, ودھنا vadhṇā
advance in Odia
ବହିନା ଦେବା bahinā debā
advance in Sanskrit
प्रवर्तन pravartana, एति éti, धावति dhā́vati
advance in Pashto
برداشت bardā́št
advance in Tagalog
sumulong
advance in Arabic
يقرب

Examples of advance in a sentence

  • I had tried to make advances to the girl again; but she would have none of me, and so I was not only thirsty but otherwise sad and downhearted.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp....
  • I felt vaguely he was a sneak, and remained quite unmollified by advances on his side, which, in a boy's barbarous fashion, unless it suited me to be magnanimous, I haughtily ignored.1923, Walter de la Mare, Seaton's Aunt:
  • [A]nd Rosamund though quite a genteelly brought up young lady had responded to his advances by slapping his face.1945, Tom Ronan, Strangers on the Ophir, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 59:

All 40 example sentences with advance

Synonyms of advance

7 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of advance

Forms of advance

Verb
third-person singular presentadvances
present participleadvancing
past participleadvanced
pastadvanced
alternative form (obsolete)advaunce
Noun
pluraladvances
Adjective
comparativemore advance
superlativemost advance

Past tense of advance: advanced

Plural of advance: advances

Origin of advance

From Middle English avauncen, avancen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman avauncier, from Vulgar Latin *abanteāre, from Late Latin ab ante, from Latin ab + ante (“before”). ⟨d⟩ added in analogy to Latin ad- (cf. Middle French advancer). Compare avaunt.

Words formed from advance

Phrases with advance

Words that rhyme with advance

4 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about advance

What does advance mean?
Advance means to help the progress of (something); to further.
What is advance in Hindi?
Advance in Hindi is क़रीब आना (qarīb ānā), पास आना (pās ānā), बयाना देना (bayānā denā). See Advance meaning in Hindi.
How do you use advance in a sentence?
I had tried to make advances to the girl again; but she would have none of me, and so I was not only thirsty but otherwise sad and downhearted.
What part of speech is advance?
Advance can be a verb, a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce advance?
Advance is pronounced /ədˈvɑːns/ (UK).
What is the past tense of advance?
The past tense of advance is advanced.

Words near advance in the dictionary

  1. Advaitism
  2. Advaits
  3. advalvar
  4. advanc't
  5. advancable
  6. advance
  7. advance angle
  8. advance copies
  9. advance copy
  10. advance directive
  11. advance directives

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: advance (page history and authors); advance (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); आगाऊ (Marathi) (page history and authors); advance (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); অগ্রিম (Bengali) (page history and authors); advance (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); advance (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ودھنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); एति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); برداشت (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “advance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/advance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.