What does espouse mean?
Word: Espouse
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Espouse means to give your open backing to a belief, cause or way of life.
Synonyms: adopt, back
How do you spell espouse?
Syllables: es - pouse
Tricky part: You hear a z at the end, but no z is written. Pupils trust their ears here and put in a letter the word does not have.
Watch out for: espouze, espowze
Memory tip: Imagine the s at the end dressed up as a z for a school play: it sounds like one, yet it is still an s.
Espouse in a sentence
Example 1: Many early reformers in India espoused education for girls.
Example 2: The young editor espouses plain language in every article.
Example 3: Our science club has espoused the cause of saving the local lake.
Fun Fact
Its Latin ancestor meant to make a solemn promise, a fitting root for a word about standing by a cause.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Several young members of the town council ispouse the idea of a car-free market street on weekends.
a) council
b) weekends
c) several
d) ispouse
Show answer
d) ispouse. It starts with the letter that opens elephant, though the sound is close to an i.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Few of the older members were ready to uesoeps such a bold plan.
a) explore
b) enclose
c) espouse
d) expose
Show answer
c) espouse. There is no x, c or l here, which leaves one option.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word espouse as used in the sentence:
The new club president promised to espouse the cause of cleaner rivers.
a) delay
b) champion
c) oppose
d) examine
Show answer
b) champion. Speaking up for a cause is what the president pledges here.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word in the list:
1. abandan 2. espouse 3. alegiance 4. proponant
a) to give up a plan or an idea and leave it behind
b) a person who argues for an idea
c) loyalty to a person, group or country
d) to take up an idea as your own and speak for it
Show answer
d) to take up an idea as your own and speak for it. Abandon finishes in on, proponent finishes in ent, and allegiance doubles the l.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A scientist espouses a new theory. What are her colleagues likely to hear from her?
a) a joke about those who believe it
b) a refusal to discuss it at all
c) reasons why she thinks it is wrong
d) reasons why she thinks it is right
Show answer
d) reasons why she thinks it is right
2. Who is espousing a cause?
a) a student eating lunch under a tree
b) a student waiting for the morning bus
c) a student writing letters for cleaner beaches
d) a student copying notes from the board
Show answer
c) a student writing letters for cleaner beaches
