ADVOCATE

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does advocate mean? 

• ADVOCATE (noun)
  The noun ADVOCATE has 2 senses:

1. a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea

2. a lawyer who pleads cases in court

  Familiarity information: ADVOCATE used as a noun is rare.

• ADVOCATE (verb)
  The verb ADVOCATE has 2 senses:

1. push for something

2. speak, plead, or argue in favor of

  Familiarity information: ADVOCATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ADVOCATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

advocate; advocator; exponent; proponent

Hypernyms ("advocate" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "advocate"):

secessionist (an advocate of secessionism)

drumbeater; partisan; zealot (a fervent and even militant proponent of something)

partitionist (an advocate of partitioning a country)

Platonist (an advocate of Platonism)

pro-lifer (an advocate of full legal protection for embryos and fetuses; someone opposed to legalized induced abortion)

presenter; sponsor (an advocate who presents a person (as for an award or a degree or an introduction etc.))

protectionist (an advocate of protectionism)

republican (an advocate of a republic (usually in opposition to a monarchy))

ritualist (an advocate of strict observance of ritualistic forms)

ruralist (an advocate of rural living)

constitutionalist (an advocate of constitutional government)

secularist (an advocate of secularism; someone who believes that religion should be excluded from government and education)

separationist; separatist (an advocate of secession or separation from a larger group (such as an established church or a national union))

interpreter; representative; spokesperson; voice (an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose)

suffragist (an advocate of the extension of voting rights (especially to women))

admirer; booster; champion; friend; protagonist; supporter (a person who backs a politician or a team etc.)

supremacist (a person who advocates the supremacy of some particular group or racial group over all others)

teleologist (advocate of teleology)

Thatcherite (an advocate of Thatcherism)

unilateralist (an advocate of unilateralism)

neutralist (an advocate of neutrality in international affairs)

apologist; justifier; vindicator (a person who argues to defend or justify some policy or institution)

Darwinian (an advocate of Darwinism)

democrat (an advocate of democratic principles)

populist (someone who advocates the rights of the common people over those of the elite)

federalist (an advocate of federalism)

Gnostic (an advocate of Gnosticism)

humanist; humanitarian (an advocate of the principles of humanism; someone concerned with the interests and welfare of humans)

ideologist; ideologue (an advocate of some ideology)

internationalist (an advocate of internationalism)

irredentist; irridentist (an advocate of irredentism)

isolationist (an advocate of isolationism in international affairs)

Jansenist (an advocate of Jansenism)

libertarian (an advocate of libertarianism)

Maoist (an advocate of Maoism)

Marxist (an advocate of Marxism)

nationalist (an advocate of national independence of or a strong national government)

neoclassicist (an advocate of neoclassicism)

nullifier (an advocate of nullification; someone who believes that a state can resist federal laws)

Derivation:

advocate (speak, plead, or argue in favor of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A lawyer who pleads cases in court

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

advocate; counsel; counsellor; counselor; counselor-at-law; pleader

Hypernyms ("advocate" is a kind of...):

attorney; lawyer (a professional person authorized to practice law; conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

• ADVOCATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they advocate ... he / she / it advocates
Past simple: advocated   
Past participle: advocated   
-ing form: advocating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Push for something

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

advocate; recommend; urge

Context example:

The travel agent recommended strongly that we not travel on Thanksgiving Day

Hypernyms (to "advocate" is one way to...):

advise; propose; suggest (make a proposal, declare a plan for something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "advocate"):

prescribe (recommend as beneficial)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Speak, plead, or argue in favor of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

advocate; preach

Context example:

The doctor advocated a smoking ban in the entire house

Hypernyms (to "advocate" is one way to...):

exhort; press; urge; urge on (force or impel in an indicated direction)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "advocate"):

moralise; moralize; preachify; sermonise; sermonize (speak as if delivering a sermon; express moral judgements)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Somebody ----s to somebody

Derivation:

advocacy (active support of an idea or cause etc.; especially the act of pleading or arguing for something)

advocate; advocator (a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea)

 Context examples 

A patient advocate helps resolve issues about health care, medical bills, and job discrimination related to a patient's medical condition.

(Patient advocate, NCI Dictionary)

The same court, in the same room, with the same bar, and the same practitioners, but another judge, for there the Consistory judge could plead any court-day as an advocate.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Many hospitals have patient advocates who can help you if you have problems.

(Patient Rights, NIH)

Two-thirds of the CEP members (clinicians, basic scientists, statisticians, other oncology professionals, and patient advocates) are not affiliated with NCI.

(CEP Member, NCI Thesaurus)

Whether advocates and orators had liberty to plead in causes manifestly known to be unjust, vexatious, or oppressive?

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

A group of scientists, doctors, clergy, and patient advocates that reviews and approves the detailed plan for every clinical trial.

(Institutional Review Board, NCI Dictionary)

A program to increase cancer advocate involvement in NCI's activities.

(Consumer Advocates in Research and Related Activities, NCI Thesaurus)

Reducing sodium intake, which leads to lower blood pressure, will inevitably result in important reductions in cardiovascular events, low salt advocates contend.

(Study Shows Average Consumption of Salt Good for Heart Health, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In another manifestation, you might be visiting a close family member in the hospital or advocating for an elderly relative who needs your help.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The clinical specialist in pediatric nursing is a graduate-prepared clinician and child and family advocate.

(Pediatric nurse specialist, NCI Thesaurus)