To promote means to help something advance, grow, or succeed. When you promote an idea, you actively support it and try to get others interested. Teachers promote learning by making lessons engaging. A poster in the hallway might promote an upcoming school play, encouraging students to buy tickets.

In business, companies promote their products through advertising and marketing. A store might promote a sale by putting up signs and sending emails to customers. The word captures active effort: you're working to make something more visible, popular, or successful.

The word also means moving someone to a higher position or rank. When a hardworking employee gets promoted, they receive a more important job title, usually with more responsibility and better pay. A soldier might be promoted from private to sergeant. Students don't get promoted in the traditional sense, but moving from fifth grade to sixth grade is similar: a recognition that you've mastered one level and are ready for the next.

A promotion is either the act of promoting something (like a store's holiday promotion) or an advancement to a higher position. People earn promotions by demonstrating skill, dedication, and results over time.