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