development

Meanings

Plural: developments

Noun

• 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"
• a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage)
  • "the development of his ideas took many years"
  • "the slow development of her skill as a writer"
• (biology) 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"
• a recent event that has some relevance for the present situation
  • "recent developments in Iraq"
  • "what a revolting development!"
• the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful
  • "the development of Alaskan resources"
• a district that has been developed to serve some purpose
  • "such land is practical for small park developments"
• a state in which things are improving; the result of developing (as in the early part of a game of chess)
  • "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"
• processing a photosensitive material in order to make an image visible
  • "the development and printing of his pictures took only two hours"
• (music) the section of a composition or movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes are developed and elaborated
• The process of developing; growth, directed change.
• The process by which a mature multicellular organism or part of an organism is produced by the addition of new cells.
• Something which has developed.
• A project consisting of one or more commercial or residential buildings.
• The building of such a project.
• The application of new ideas to practical problems (cf. research).
• The active placement of the pieces, or the process of achieving it.
• The process by in which previous material is transformed and restated.
• The second section of a piece of music in sonata form, in which the original theme is revisited in altered and varying form.
• The expression of a function in the form of a series.
• The processing of photographic film so as to bring out the images latent in it.

Synonyms

developing, evolution, exploitation, growing, growth, maturation, ontogenesis, ontogeny

Antonyms

devolution, nondevelopment