Advance publicity given by ferocious woman (8)

I believe the answer is:

progress

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'advance' is the definition.
(to progress is to advance)

'publicity given by ferocious woman' is the wordplay.
'publicity' becomes 'pr'.
'given by ferocious woman' becomes 'ogress' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'pr'+'ogress'='PROGRESS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for progress that I've seen before include "Gradual improvement or development" , "Move forwards" , "Advance - promotion" , "Headway" , "Satisfactory development" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.