advance

advance

1. Commerce

a. the supplying of commodities or funds before receipt of an agreed consideration

b. the commodities or funds supplied in this manner

c. (as modifier): an advance supply

2. a money payment made before it is legally due

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

advance

[əd′vans]

(civil engineering)

In railway engineering, a length of track that extends beyond the signal that controls it.

(geology)

A continuing movement of a shoreline toward the sea.

A net movement over a specified period of time of a shoreline toward the sea.

(hydrology)

The forward movement of a glacier.

(mechanical engineering)

To effect the earlier occurrence of an event, for example, spark advance or injection advance.

(navigation)

In making a turn, the distance a vessel moves in its initial direction from the point where the rudder is started over until the heading has changed 90°.

The distance a vessel moves in the initial direction for heading changes of less than 90°.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.