(advances, advancing, advanced)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
To advance means to move forward, often in order to attack someone.
Reports from Chad suggest that rebel forces are advancing on the capital...
The water is advancing at a rate of 5cm a day...
...a picture of a man throwing himself before an advancing tank.
VERB: V prep/adv, V, V-ing
2.
To advance means to make progress, especially in your knowledge of something.
Medical technology has advanced considerably...
= progress
VERB: V
3.
If you advance someone a sum of money, you lend it to them, or pay it to them earlier than arranged.
I advanced him some money, which he would repay on our way home...
The bank advanced $1.2 billion to help the country with debt repayments.
= lend
VERB: V n n, V n
4.
An advance is money which is lent or paid to someone before they would normally receive it.
She was paid a ?100,000 advance for her next two novels.
N-COUNT
5.
To advance an event, or the time or date of an event, means to bring it forward to an earlier time or date.
Too much protein in the diet may advance the ageing process...
= bring forward
? put back
VERB: V n
6.
If you advance a cause, interest, or claim, you support it and help to make it successful.
When not producing art of his own, Oliver was busy advancing the work of others.
= further
VERB: V n
7.
When a theory or argument is advanced, it is put forward for discussion.
Many theories have been advanced as to why some women suffer from depression...
= put forward
VERB: usu passive, be V-ed
8.
An advance is a forward movement of people or vehicles, usually as part of a military operation.
...an advance on enemy positions...
? retreat
N-VAR
9.
An advance in a particular subject or activity is progress in understanding it or in doing it well.
Air safety has not improved since the dramatic advances of the 1970s...
= development
N-VAR
10.
If something is an advance on what was previously available or done, it is better in some way.
This could be an advance on the present situation.
N-SING: usu a N on n
11.
Advance booking, notice, or warning is done or given before an event happens.
They don't normally give any advance notice about which building they're going to inspect...
ADJ: ADJ n
12.
An advance party or group is a small group of people who go on ahead of the main group.
The 20-strong advance party will be followed by another 600 soldiers as part of UN relief efforts.
= expeditionary
ADJ: ADJ n
13.
If one thing happens or is done in advance of another, it happens or is done before the other thing.
I had asked everyone to submit questions in advance of the meeting.
= ahead
PREP-PHRASE
14.
If you do something in advance, you do it before a particular date or event.
The subject of the talk is announced a week in advance.
PHRASE: PHR after v