WordWeb Online

1. Act of improving by expanding, 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 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";
   - evolution
    
3. (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";
   - growth, growing, maturation, ontogeny, ontogenesis
    
4. A recent event that has some relevance for the present situation
   "recent developments in Iraq"; "what a revolting development!"
    
5. The act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful
   "the development of Alaskan resources";
   - exploitation
    
6. A district that has been developed to serve some purpose
   "such land is practical for small park developments"
    
7. (chess) 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"
    
8. Processing a photosensitive material in order to make an image visible
   "the development and printing of his pictures took only two hours";
   - developing
    
9. (music) the section of a composition or movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes are developed and elaborated

Derived forms: developments

Type of: alteration, biological process, change, district, dominion, employment, exercise, improvement, melioration, modification, organic process, physical process, process, processing, section, subdivision, territorial dominion, territory, usage, use, utilisation [Brit], utilization

Encyclopedia: Development, Growth and Differentiation