development
n 1: act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining; "he
congratulated them on their development of a plan to
meet the emergency"; "they funded research and
development"
2: a process in which something passes by degrees to a more
advanced or mature stage; "the development of his ideas
took many years"; "the evolution of Greek civilization";
"the slow development of her skill as a writer" [syn: {evolution}]
3: the act of making some area of land or water more profitable
or productive or useful: "the development of Alaskan
resources"; "the exploitation of copper deposits" [syn: {exploitation}]
4: a recent event that has some relevance for the present
situation; "recent developments in Iraq"; "what a
revolting development!"
5: a district that has been developed to serve some purpose;
"such land is practical for small park developments"
6: a state in which things are improving; the result of
developing; "after he saw the latest development he
changed his mind and became a supporter"; "in chess your
should take care of your development before moving your
queen"
7: the process of an individual organism growing organically; a
purely biological unfolding of events involved in an
organism changing gradually from a simple to a more
complex level; "he proposed an indicator of osseous
development in children" [syn: {growth}, {growing}, {maturation},
{ontogeny}, {ontogenesis}] [ant: {nondevelopment}]
8: processing a photosensitive material in order to make an
image visible; "the development and printing of his
pictures took only two hours" [syn: {developing}]