"espouse" in the verb sense

1. adopt, follow, espouse

choose and follow as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans

"She followed the feminist movement"

"The candidate espouses Republican ideals"

2. marry, get married, wed, conjoin, hook up with, get hitched with, espouse

take in marriage

3. espouse, embrace, adopt, sweep up

take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own

"She embraced Catholicism"

"They adopted the Jewish faith"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

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