Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To adhere to or advocate.
- transitive verb To take in marriage; marry.
- transitive verb To give (a woman) in marriage.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A spouse.
- To promise, engage, or bestow in marriage; betroth.
- To take in marriage; marry; wed.
- To take to one's self, or make one's own; embrace; adopt; become a participator or partizan in: as, to
espouse the quarrel of another; to espouse a cause. - To pledge; commit; engage.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To betroth; to promise in marriage; to give as spouse.
- transitive verb To take as spouse; to take to wife; to marry.
- transitive verb To take to one's self with a view to maintain; to make one's own; to take up the cause of; to adopt; to embrace.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To become/get
married to. - verb transitive To
accept ,support , or take on as one’s own (an idea or a cause).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb take in marriage
- verb choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans
- verb take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The solution you espouse is far, far worse than the supposed problem.
Two Cowenian Tenure Claims, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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The stand that Pastor Hagee and Parsley espouse is not anything new or revelational as "new" or "recently".
McCain rejects endorsement of a second controversial pastor 2008
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And unfettered advocacy for one, as you espouse, is clearly more Orwellian.
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It would almost be funny if it was not so pathetic and hypocritical. the fact that you leftards actually believe the dung splattered logic you espouse is a sad comment on the state of the socialist left in America.
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It would almost be funny if it was not so pathetic and hypocritical. the fact that you leftards actually believe the dung splattered logic you espouse is a sad comment on the state of the socialist left in America.
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Religious fascism like the sort you espouse is the latest plague!
Think Progress » BREAKING: Barber Cancels Ed Schultz’s Debut on Armed Forces Radio 2005
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As for the Conservatives, I also think it’s possible the support they espouse is based on a partisan wedge issue.
Liberals To Sink Afghan mission? – Update « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2008
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At one time the Republican party stood for everything that most Americans value, maybe that was before you were born, it’s really sad your too closed minded to understand that what you espouse is unAmerican.
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In some ways, the research provides scientific evidence of what many self-help books and some religious traditions espouse, which is that being in the "here and now" is critical for happiness, Killingsworth said.
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In some ways, the research provides scientific evidence of what many self-help books and some religious traditions espouse, which is that being in the "here and now" is critical for happiness, Killingsworth said.
jwjarvis commented on the word espouse
Now, of course, much of what osteopathic medicine has always espoused is rapidly becoming part of all medical training.
May 26, 2010
100000232338334 commented on the word espouse
Those people who didn't espouse the more extreme measures of the Fellowship were going to get a real wake-up call tonight. -Charlaine Harris, Living Dead in Dallas
December 11, 2010
mohitanand commented on the word espouse
verb: to adopt or support an idea or cause
As a college student, Charlie espoused Marxism, growing his beard out and railing against the evils of the free-market.
October 19, 2016