"advocates" in the noun sense
1. advocate, advocator, proponent, exponent
a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea
2. advocate, counsel, counselor, counsellor, counselor-at-law, pleader
a lawyer who pleads cases in court
"advocates" in the verb sense
1. recommend, urge, advocate
push for something
"The travel agent recommended strongly that we not travel on Thanksgiving Day"
2. preach, advocate
speak, plead, or argue in favor of
"The doctor advocated a smoking ban in the entire house"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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