Meaning & use
advance
To move forward, make progress, or develop to a further or higher stage.
See it in a sentence
The soldiers slowly advanced toward the abandoned village at dawn.
Her research has advanced our understanding of how memory works.
A note on using this word
As a noun, an advance can also mean money paid before it is earned, as in a book or salary advance.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
retreat
Another way to use it
2. noun
A sum of money paid before it is due or earned.
The publisher gave the author an advance before the novel was finished.
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