Definition of "espouse"
espouse
verb
third-person singular simple present espouses, present participle espousing, simple past and past participle espoused
Quotations
Philip and Henry terminated hostilities by a mutual restitution of all places taken during the course of the war; and Philip espoused the princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of France, formerly betrothed to his son Don Carlos.
1759, David Hume, “[Elizabeth I.]”, in The History of England, under the House of Tudor. […], volume II, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], page 414
(transitive, figurative, modern usage) To accept, support, or take on as one’s own (an idea or a cause).
Quotations
Although Dowty’s proposal is attractive from the point of view of the alternative argument linking theory that I am espousing, since it eschews the use of thematic roles and thematic role hierarchies, […], but it still has some drawbacks.
1998, William Croft, “The Projection of Arguments”, in Miriam Butt, Wilhelm Geuder, editors, Event Structure in Argument Linking, page 37
Among those leavers who believe Brexit has not gone well, many blame politicians for handling it badly – a narrative espoused by the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who recently claimed that “Brexit has failed”.
2023 June 22, Heather Stewart, “Only 18% of leave voters think Brexit has been a success, poll finds”, in The Guardian