ESPOUSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does espouse mean? 

• ESPOUSE (verb)
  The verb ESPOUSE has 3 senses:

1. choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans

2. take in marriage

3. take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own

  Familiarity information: ESPOUSE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ESPOUSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they espouse    ... he / she / it espouses   
Past simple: espoused   
Past participle: espoused   
-ing form: espousing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

adopt; espouse; follow

Context example:

The candidate espouses Republican ideals

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

choose; pick out; select; take (pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives)

Verb group:

abide by; comply; follow (act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes)

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

adhere; stick (be a devoted follower or supporter)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

espousal (the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take in marriage

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

conjoin; espouse; get hitched with; get married; hook up with; marry; wed

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

unify; unite (act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief)

Verb group:

marry; splice; tie; wed (perform a marriage ceremony)

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

inmarry (marry within one's own tribe or group)

mismarry (marry an unsuitable partner)

wive (marry a woman, take a wife)

wive (take (someone) as a wife)

intermarry (marry within the same ethnic, social, or family group)

remarry (marry, not for the first time)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

adopt; embrace; espouse; sweep up

Context example:

They adopted the Jewish faith

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

accept (consider or hold as true)

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

fasten on; hook on; latch on; seize on; take up (adopt)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

When I left college, I was sent out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

One who defends, vindicates, or espouses a cause, by argument.

(Advocate, NCI Thesaurus)

The root contains indigenous plant phytosterol estrogens such as diosgenin, which espouse therapeutic effects on female hormonal regulation and alleviate the symptoms of menopause, as well as induce antiproliferative pro-apoptotic effects in a diverse range of tumor cells.

(Dioscorea villosa Tuber, NCI Thesaurus)

A flock of our fellows are going to drive over by-and-by, and I'll be hanged if I don't make them buy every flower she's got, and camp down before her table afterward, said Laurie, espousing her cause with warmth.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

You shall see what sort of a being I was cheated into espousing, and judge whether or not I had a right to break the compact, and seek sympathy with something at least human.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)