advisory

Pluraladvisories

1. 1
   adjective

   Containing advice, or serving to advise someone about what to do.

   The residents' vote is only advisory, so the final decision still rests with the city council.

   Each package carries an advisory label telling buyers how to store the medicine safely.

   Similarconsultative, cautionary

   Oppositebinding, mandatory

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A warning that alerts people to a possible danger or problem.

   The State Department issued a travel advisory urging citizens to avoid the border region.

   Software makers publish security advisories whenever they discover a serious flaw.

   Similarwarning, alert, bulletin

3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   An official National Weather Service notice of special weather conditions less serious than a warning, which may cause significant inconvenience and could endanger life or property if people are careless.

   Forecasters posted a dense fog advisory for the valley until mid-morning.

   Winter weather advisories remain in effect across the region, with icy roads expected overnight.

   Note

   Forecasters use the word more strictly than everyday speech does: an advisory is precisely not a warning but the tier below one, so the two terms are never interchangeable in a forecast. The hazard is named in front of it, as in a dense fog advisory or a winter weather advisory. In the everyday "warning" meaning, advisory carries no such rank.

4. 4
   adjective

   Having the function of giving advice to a person or organization.

   The mayor set up an advisory panel of local business owners to weigh in on the new zoning rules.

   After retiring as CEO, he stayed on with the company in an advisory capacity.

   Similarconsultative

5. 5
   nounnonstandarduncountable

   Supervision given by an advisor to a person or group.

   New researchers spend their first year under the advisory of a senior scientist before running projects alone.

   Placing the small charity under the advisory of an outside accountant helped it get its finances in order.

   Similarsupervision, guidance, mentorship

   Note

   Few writers use the noun this way, and careful readers may take it for a slip. It turns up in the phrase under the advisory of, followed by whoever is in charge: a teacher over a group of students, an agency guiding a village's farming. Where it matters, under the supervision of or under the guidance of says the same thing without drawing attention.

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