n. [ OE. avantage, avauntage, F. avantage, fr. avant before. See Advance, and cf. Vantage. ] 1. Any condition, circumstance, opportunity, or means, particularly favorable to success, or to any desired end; benefit; as, the enemy had the advantage of a more elevated position. [ 1913 Webster ]

Give me advantage of some brief discourse. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The advantages of a close alliance. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Superiority; mastery; -- with of or over. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us. 2 Cor. ii. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Superiority of state, or that which gives it; benefit; gain; profit; as, the advantage of a good constitution. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Interest of money; increase; overplus (as the thirteenth in the baker's dozen). [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And with advantage means to pay thy love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Tennis) The first point scored after deuce. [ PJC ]

Advantage ground, vantage ground. [ R. ] Clarendon. --
To have the advantage of (any one), to have a personal knowledge of one who does not have a reciprocal knowledge. “You have the advantage of me; I don't remember ever to have had the honor.” Sheridan. --
To take advantage of, to profit by; (often used in a bad sense) to overreach, to outwit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Advantage, Advantageous, Benefit, Beneficial. We speak of a thing as a benefit, or as beneficial, when it is simply productive of good; as, the benefits of early discipline; the beneficial effects of adversity. We speak of a thing as an advantage, or as advantageous, when it affords us the means of getting forward, and places us on a “vantage ground” for further effort. Hence, there is a difference between the benefits and the advantages of early education; between a beneficial and an advantageous investment of money. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Advantaged p. pr. & vb. n. Advantaging ] [ F. avantager, fr. avantage. See Advance. ] To give an advantage to; to further; to promote; to benefit; to profit. [ 1913 Webster ]

The truth is, the archbishop's own stiffness and averseness to comply with the court designs, advantaged his adversaries against him. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

What is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? Luke ix. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]

To advantage one's self of, to avail one's self of. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Advantageous. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. avantageux, fr. avantage. ] Being of advantage; conferring advantage; gainful; profitable; useful; beneficial; as, an advantageous position; trade is advantageous to a nation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Advabtageous comparison with any other country. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

You see . . . of what use a good reputation is, and how swift and advantageous a harbinger it is, wherever one goes. Chesterfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Profitably; with advantage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Profitableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. désavantage. ] 1. Deprivation of advantage; unfavorable or prejudicial quality, condition, circumstance, or the like; that which hinders success, or causes loss or injury. [ 1913 Webster ]

I was brought here under the disadvantage of being unknown by sight to any of you. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abandoned by their great patron, the faction henceforward acted at disadvantage. Palfrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Loss; detriment; hindrance; prejudice to interest, fame, credit, profit, or other good. [ 1913 Webster ]

They would throw a construction on his conduct, to his disadvantage before the public. Bancroft.

Syn. -- Detriment; injury; hurt; loss; damage. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. F. désavantager. ] To injure the interest of; to be detrimental to. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Injurious; disadvantageous. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. désavantageux. ] Attended with disadvantage; unfavorable to success or prosperity; inconvenient; prejudicial; -- opposed to advantageous; as, the situation of an army is disadvantageous for attack or defense. [ 1913 Webster ]

Even in the disadvantageous position in which he had been placed, he gave clear indications of future excellence. Prescott.

-- Dis*ad`van*ta"geous*ly, adv. -- Dis*ad`van*ta"geous*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. dis- + vantage. ] Disadvantageous. [ Obs. ] “Disadvantageous ground.” Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Aphetic form of OE. avantage, fr. F. avantage. See Advantage. ] 1. Superior or more favorable situation or opportunity; gain; profit; advantage. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

O happy vantage of a kneeling knee! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A position offering a superior view of a scene or situation; -- used literally and figuratively; as, from the vantage of hindsight; also called vantage point. [ PJC ]

3. (Tennis) The first point scored after deuce; advantage{ 5 }. [ Brit. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ When the server wins this point, it is called vantage in; when the receiver, or striker out, wins, it is called vantage out. [ 1913 Webster ]

To have at vantage, to have the advantage of; to be in a more favorable condition than. “He had them at vantage, being tired and harassed with a long march.” Bacon. --
Vantage ground, superiority of state or place; the place or condition which gives one an advantage over another. “The vantage ground of truth.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ] It is these things that give him his actual standing, and it is from this vantage ground that he looks around him. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To profit; to aid. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Lawn Tennis) The first game after the set is deuce. See Set, n., 9. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A point giving advantage; vantage ground. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]