ADVANTAGE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Advantage

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/ædvˈæntɪdʒ/ /ədvˈæntɪdʒ/ /ædvˈænɪdʒ/ /ədvˈænədʒ/ Listen

noun

Advantage n.

1.

Any condition, circumstance, opportunity, or means, particularly favorable to success, or to any desired end; benefit; as, the enemy had the advantage of a more elevated position. "Give me advantage of some brief discourse." "The advantages of a close alliance."

2.

Superiority; mastery; with of or over. "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us."

3.

Superiority of state, or that which gives it; benefit; gain; profit; as, the advantage of a good constitution.

4.

Interest of money; increase; overplus (as the thirteenth in the baker's dozen). (Obs.) "And with advantage means to pay thy love."

5.

(Tennis) The first point scored after deuce.

Advantage ground, vantage ground. (R.)

To have the advantage of (any one), to have a personal knowledge of one who does not have a reciprocal knowledge. "You have the advantage of me; I don't remember ever to have had the honor."

To take advantage of, to profit by; (often used in a bad sense) to overreach, to outwit.

Synonyms: Advantage, Advantageous, Benefit, Beneficial. We speak of a thing as a benefit, or as beneficial, when it is simply productive of good; as, the benefits of early discipline; the beneficial effects of adversity. We speak of a thing as an advantage, or as advantageous, when it affords us the means of getting forward, and places us on a "vantage ground" for further effort. Hence, there is a difference between the benefits and the advantages of early education; between a beneficial and an advantageous investment of money.

verb

Advantage v. t. (past & past part. advantaged; pres. part. advantaging) To give an advantage to; to further; to promote; to benefit; to profit. "The truth is, the archbishop's own stiffness and averseness to comply with the court designs, advantaged his adversaries against him." "What is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?"

To advantage one's self of, to avail one's self of. (Obs.)

See images of 'Advantage'

Etymology of 'Advantage'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Advantage" Quotes from Famous Books

... was a man about sixty-three, with considerable external dignity of appearance, though without any personal advantage, either in face, figure, or manner. He had been an earl, with a large income, for thirty years; and in that time he had learned to look collected, even when his ideas were confused; to keep his eye steady, and to make a few words go a long way. He had never been ...

— The Kellys and the O'Kellys • Anthony Trollope

... cheerful way, "you lawyers have the advantage of us knights of the pill box and lancet. Rain or shine, sick or well, we must travel round ...

— The Allen House - or Twenty Years Ago and Now • T. S. Arthur

... grant a cessation, should it seem expedient, and had been given a letter from Secretary Jenkins to Lord Baltimore, requiring the cooeperation of Maryland.[942] But, upon finding the colony in peace and quiet, and the Assembly busy with other concerns, he "took advantage thereof", and kept secret this unexpected concession. Culpeper pretended to believe that the desired cessation would be of no real benefit to the planters, but it is clear that he was consciously betraying the colony to the greed of the royal Exchequer.[943] "I soe encouraged the ...

— Virginia under the Stuarts 1607-1688 • Thomas J. Wertenbaker

... send a messenger to Jamestown to fetch him back. She knew well that she was far better fitted than any white man to follow swiftly and surely the way her child had gone. It might be, since the thief had several hours' advantage, that it would be days before she could catch up with him; but if it took years and she had to journey to the end of the world she would not falter nor turn back ...

— The Princess Pocahontas • Virginia Watson

... great advantage over Martin, in that he always hoped to see Miss Cunegonde; whereas Martin had nothing at all to hope. Besides, Candide was possessed of money and jewels, and though he had lost one hundred large red sheep, laden with the greatest treasure ...

— Candide • Voltaire

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