advantage

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A beneficial factor or combination of factors.
2. n. Benefit or profit; gain: It is to your advantage to invest wisely.
3. n. A relatively favorable position; superiority of means: A better education gave us the advantage.
4. n. Sports The first point scored in tennis after deuce.
5. n. Sports The resulting score.
6. v. To afford profit or gain to; benefit.
7. idiom. take advantage of To put to good use; avail oneself of: take advantage of all educational opportunities.
8. idiom. take advantage of To profit selfishly by; exploit: took advantage of the customer.
9. idiom. to advantage To good effect; favorably: The roses were displayed to advantage in a blue vase.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Any state, condition, circumstance, opportunity, or means specially favorable to success, prosperity, interest, reputation, or any desired end; anything that aids, assists, or is of service: as, he had the advantage of a good constitution, of an excellent education; the enemy had the advantage of elevated ground; “the advantages of a close alliance,” Macaulay.
2. n. Superiority or prevalence: regularly with of or over.
3. n. Benefit; gain; profit.
4. n. Usury; interest; increase.
5. n. A thirteenth article added to a dozen, making what is commonly known as a baker's dozen.
6. n. In lawn-tennis, the first point gained after deuce. Commonly called vantage. See lawn-tennis.
7. n. To overreach or impose upon
8. n. To utilize as a means toward overreaching or imposition.
9. n. Synonyms and Advantage, Benefit, Utility, Profit, help, vantage-ground, good, service. Advantage is the possession of a good vantage-ground for the attainment of ulterior objects of desire: as, he has the advantage of a good education. Benefit is a more immediate and realized good: as, a chief benefit of exercise is the improvement of health. Utility is usefulness in the practical or material sense: the utility of an education is a small part of the benefit derived from it. Profit signifies gain, with a suggestion of trade or exchange. A man may have good advantages, but derive from them little benefit or profit; even their utility to him may be small.
10. To benefit; be of service to; yield profit or gain to.
11. To gain ground or win acceptance for; promote or further.
12. To increase, as by interest.
13. Reflexively, to cause to be an advantage to; avail (one's self).
14. To gain an advantage; be benefited.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any condition, circumstance, opportunity or means, particularly favorable to success, or to any desired end.
2. n. Superiority; mastery; — used with of to specify its nature or with over to specify the other party.
3. n. Superiority of state, or that which gives it; benefit; gain; profit; as, the advantage of a good constitution.
4. n. tennis The score where one player wins a point after deuce but needs the next too to carry the game.
5. n. soccer The continuation of the game after a foul against the attacking team, because the attacking team are in a advantageous position.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Any condition, circumstance, opportunity, or means, particularly favorable to success, or to any desired end; benefit.
2. n. Superiority; mastery; -- with of or over.
3. n. Superiority of state, or that which gives it; benefit; gain; profit.
4. n. obsolete Interest of money; increase; overplus (as the thirteenth in the baker's dozen).
5. n. (Tennis) The first point scored after deuce.
6. v. To give an advantage to; to further; to promote; to benefit; to profit.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. benefit resulting from some event or action
2. n. the quality of having a superior or more favorable position
3. v. give an advantage to
4. n. (tennis) first point scored after deuce