improvement - the act of improving something; "their improvements increased the value of the property"

progress, advancement - gradual improvement or growth or development; "advancement of knowledge"; "great progress in the arts"

broadening - the action of making broader; "the broadening of travel"

working out, elaboration - developing in intricate and painstaking detail

product development - improving an existing product or developing new kinds of products

assibilation - the development of a consonant phoneme into a sibilant

deepening - a process of becoming deeper and more profound

growth - a progression from simpler to more complex forms; "the growth of culture"

process - a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states; "events now in process"; "the process of calcification begins later for boys than for girls"

unfolding, flowering - a developmental process; "the flowering of ante-bellum culture"

alteration, change, modification - an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another; "the change was intended to increase sales"; "this storm is certainly a change for the worse"; "the neighborhood had undergone few modifications since his last visit years ago"

turn of events, twist, turn - an unforeseen development; "events suddenly took an awkward turn"

phenomenon - a remarkable development

ramification, complication - a development that complicates a situation; "the court's decision had many unforeseen ramifications"

usage, use, utilisation, utilization, exercise, employment - the act of using; "he warned against the use of narcotic drugs"; "skilled in the utilization of computers"

land development - making an area of land more useful

water development, water program, water project - making an area of water more useful

overexploitation, overuse, overutilisation, overutilization - exploitation to the point of diminishing returns

capitalisation, capitalization - the act of capitalizing on an opportunity

commercialisation, commercialization - the act of commercializing something; involving something in commerce; "my father considered the commercialization of Christmas to be a sacrilege"; "the government tried to accelerate the commercialization of this development"; "both companies will retain control over the commercialization of their own products"

electrification - the act of providing electricity; "the electrification of rural Tennessee"

unitisation, unitization - the joint development of a petroleum resource that straddles territory controlled by different companies

housing development - a residential area of similar dwellings built by property developers and usually under a single management; "they live in the new housing development"

housing estate - a residential area where the houses were all planned and built at the same time

district, territorial dominion, territory, dominion - a region marked off for administrative or other purposes

chess game, chess - a game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king

melioration, improvement - a condition superior to an earlier condition; "the new school represents a great improvement"

underdevelopment - state of inadequate development; "much poverty can be traced to the underdevelopment of industry"

culture - (biology) the growing of microorganisms in a nutrient medium (such as gelatin or agar); "the culture of cells in a Petri dish"

biological science, biology - the science that studies living organisms

amelogenesis - the developmental process of forming tooth enamel

angiogenesis - the formation of new blood vessels

apposition - (biology) growth in the thickness of a cell wall by the deposit of successive layers of material

auxesis - growth from increase in cell size without cell division

anthesis, blossoming, florescence, flowering, inflorescence, efflorescence - the time and process of budding and unfolding of blossoms

caenogenesis, cainogenesis, cenogenesis, kainogenesis, kenogenesis - introduction during embryonic development of characters or structure not present in the earlier evolutionary history of the strain or species (as addition of the placenta in mammalian evolution)

cohesion - (botany) the process in some plants of parts growing together that are usually separate (such as petals)

cytogenesis, cytogeny - the origin and development and variation of cells

foliation, leafing - (botany) the process of forming leaves

fructification - the bearing of fruit

gametogenesis - the development and maturation of sex cells through meiosis

gastrulation - the process in which a gastrula develops from a blastula by the inward migration of cells

germination, sprouting - the process whereby seeds or spores sprout and begin to grow

infructescence - the fruiting stage of the inflorescence

intussusception - (biology) growth in the surface area of a cell by the deposit of new particles between existing particles in the cell wall

juvenescence - the process of growing into a youth

life cycle - the course of developmental changes in an organism from fertilized zygote to maturity when another zygote can be produced

masculinisation, masculinization, virilisation, virilization - the abnormal development of male sexual characteristics in a female (usually as the result of hormone therapies or adrenal malfunction)

morphogenesis - differentiation and growth of the structure of an organism (or a part of an organism)

myelinisation, myelinization - the development of a myelin sheath around a nerve fiber

neurogenesis - the development of nerve tissues

biological process, organic process - a process occurring in living organisms

palingenesis, recapitulation - emergence during embryonic development of various characters or structures that appeared during the evolutionary history of the strain or species

proliferation - growth by the rapid multiplication of parts

psychomotor development - progressive acquisition of skills involving both mental and motor activities

psychosexual development - (psychoanalysis) the process during which personality and sexual behavior mature through a series of stages: first oral stage and then anal stage and then phallic stage and then latency stage and finally genital stage

rooting - the process of putting forth roots and beginning to grow

suppression - (botany) the failure to develop of some part or organ of a plant

dentition, odontiasis, teething - the eruption through the gums of baby teeth

teratogenesis - the development of defects in an embryo

vegetation - the process of growth in plants

isometry - the growth rates in different parts of a growing organism are the same

processing - preparing or putting through a prescribed procedure; "the processing of newly arrived immigrants"; "the processing of ore to obtain minerals"

underdevelopment - (photography) inadequate processing of film resulting in inadequate contrast