| English Dictionary |
DEVELOP
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does develop mean?
• DEVELOP (verb)
The verb DEVELOP has 21 senses:
1. make something new, such as a product or a mental or artistic creation
2. work out
3. gain through experience
4. come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)
5. come into existence; take on form or shape
6. change the use of and make available or usable
7. elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses
8. create by training and teaching
9. be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest
10. grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment
11. become technologically advanced
12. cause to grow and differentiate in ways conforming to its natural development
13. generate gradually
14. grow emotionally or mature
15. make visible by means of chemical solutions
16. superimpose a three-dimensional surface on a plane without stretching, in geometry
17. move one's pieces into strategically more advantageous positions
18. move into a strategically more advantageous position
19. elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme
20. happen
21. expand in the form of a series
Familiarity information: DEVELOP used as a verb is very familiar.
Dictionary entry details
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it develops Past simple: developed
Past participle: developed
-ing form: developing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Make something new, such as a product or a mental or artistic creation
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Context example:
They developed a new technique
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
create (bring into existence)
Verb group:
develop; evolve; germinate (work out)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
build (give form to, according to a plan)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
development (act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Work out
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Synonyms:
Context example:
We have developed a new theory of evolution
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
create by mental act; create mentally (create mentally and abstractly rather than with one's hands)
Verb group:
develop (make something new, such as a product or a mental or artistic creation)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sentence example:
Did he develop his major works over a short period of time?
Sense 3
Meaning:
Gain through experience
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
Context example:
develop a passion for painting
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)
Verb group:
acquire; develop; get; grow; produce (come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes))
develop (elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme)
develop; explicate; formulate (elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses)
develop (generate gradually)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Synonyms:
acquire; develop; get; grow; produce
Context example:
Well-developed breasts
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)
Verb group:
acquire; develop; evolve (gain through experience)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
regrow (grow anew or continue growth after an injury or interruption)
feather; fledge (grow feathers)
cut (have grow through the gums)
pupate (develop into a pupa)
teethe (grow teeth; cut the baby teeth)
pod (produce pods, of plants)
leaf (produce leaves, of plants)
stool; tiller (grow shoots in the form of stools or tillers)
sprout; stock (put forth and grow sprouts or shoots)
spring (develop suddenly)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
development ((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)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Come into existence; take on form or shape
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Synonyms:
arise; develop; grow; originate; rise; spring up; uprise
Context example:
An interesting phenomenon uprose
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
become (come into existence)
Verb group:
develop (be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
resurge (rise again)
come forth; emerge (happen or occur as a result of something)
come; follow (to be the product or result)
swell; well up (come up (as of feelings and thoughts, or other ephemeral things))
head (take its rise)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Sense 6
Meaning:
Change the use of and make available or usable
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
build up; develop
Context example:
The remote areas of the country were gradually built up
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)
Verb group:
develop; make grow (cause to grow and differentiate in ways conforming to its natural development)
develop; modernise; modernize (become technologically advanced)
develop; educate; prepare; train (create by training and teaching)
develop (generate gradually)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
redevelop (change the plans for the use of (land))
settle (establish or develop as a residence)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
developer (someone who develops real estate (especially someone who prepares a site for residential or commercial use))
development (the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful)
development (a district that has been developed to serve some purpose)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
Context example:
Could you develop the ideas in your thesis
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
conjecture; hypothecate; hypothesise; hypothesize; speculate; suppose; theorise; theorize (to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds)
Verb group:
develop (elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme)
acquire; develop; evolve (gain through experience)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
mature (develop and work out fully in one's mind)
redevelop; reformulate (formulate or develop again, of an improved theory or hypothesis)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 8
Meaning:
Create by training and teaching
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Synonyms:
develop; educate; prepare; train
Context example:
we develop the leaders for the future
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
instruct; learn; teach (impart skills or knowledge to)
Verb group:
build up; develop (change the use of and make available or usable)
prepare; train (undergo training or instruction in preparation for a particular role, function, or profession)
groom; prepare; train (educate for a future role or function)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
retrain (teach new skills)
toilet-train (train (a small child) to use the toilet)
house-train; housebreak (train (a pet) to live cleanly in a house)
drill (train in the military, e.g., in the use of weapons)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sense 9
Meaning:
Be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Context example:
The plot developed slowly
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)
Verb group:
develop (grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment)
break; develop; recrudesce (happen)
arise; develop; grow; originate; rise; spring up; uprise (come into existence; take on form or shape)
Sentence frame:
It ----s that CLAUSE
Sense 10
Meaning:
Grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Context example:
This situation has developed over a long time
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
grow (become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain)
Verb group:
develop (be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
bud (develop buds)
spike; spike out (bring forth a spike or spikes)
bloom; blossom; flower (produce or yield flowers)
blossom; blossom forth; blossom out; unfold (develop or come to a promising stage)
incubate (grow under conditions that promote development)
build; build up; progress; work up (form or accumulate steadily)
adolesce (become adolescent; pass through adolescence)
grow; maturate; mature (develop and reach maturity; undergo maturation)
advance; come along; come on; get along; get on; progress; shape up (develop in a positive way)
age (begin to seem older; get older)
age; get on; maturate; mature; senesce (grow old or older)
grow (increase in size by natural process)
dedifferentiate (lose specialization in form or function)
differentiate (become different during development)
evolve (undergo development or evolution)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP
Derivation:
development ((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)
Sense 11
Meaning:
Become technologically advanced
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
Context example:
Viet Nam is modernizing rapidly
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)
Verb group:
build up; develop (change the use of and make available or usable)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Derivation:
development (act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining)
Sense 12
Meaning:
Cause to grow and differentiate in ways conforming to its natural development
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
develop; make grow
Context example:
He developed a new kind of apple
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Cause:
grow (become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain)
develop (grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment)
Verb group:
build up; develop (change the use of and make available or usable)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
grow (cause to grow or develop)
check; condition; discipline; train (develop (a child's or animal's) behavior by instruction and practice; especially to teach self-control)
foliate (grow leaves)
elaborate; work out (work out in detail)
work out; work up (come up with)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 13
Meaning:
Generate gradually
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Context example:
develop a market for the new mobile phone
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
bring forth; generate (bring into existence)
Verb group:
build up; develop (change the use of and make available or usable)
acquire; develop; evolve (gain through experience)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
make (favor the development of)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 14
Meaning:
Grow emotionally or mature
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
develop; grow
Context example:
When he spent a summer at camp, the boy grew noticeably and no longer showed some of his old adolescent behavior
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
outgrow (grow too large or too mature for)
make (develop into)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Sentence example:
Sam and Sue develop
Derivation:
development (a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage))
Sense 15
Meaning:
Make visible by means of chemical solutions
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Context example:
Please develop this roll of film for me
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Domain category:
photography; picture taking (the act of taking and printing photographs)
photography (the process of producing images of objects on photosensitive surfaces)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "develop"):
solarise; solarize (reverse some of the tones of (a negative or print) and introduce pronounced outlines of highlights, by exposing it briefly to light, then washing and redeveloping it)
underdevelop (process (a film or photographic plate) less than the required time or in an ineffective solution or at an insufficiently high temperature)
redevelop (develop for a second time, in order to improve the contrast, colour, etc., of a negative or print)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
developer (photographic equipment consisting of a chemical solution for developing film)
developing; development (processing a photosensitive material in order to make an image visible)
Sense 16
Meaning:
Superimpose a three-dimensional surface on a plane without stretching, in geometry
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
lay over; superimpose; superpose (place on top of)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 17
Meaning:
Move one's pieces into strategically more advantageous positions
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Context example:
Spassky developed quickly
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
play (participate in games or sport)
Verb group:
develop (move into a strategically more advantageous position)
Domain category:
chess; chess game (a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
development (a state in which things are improving; the result of developing (as in the early part of a game of chess))
Sense 18
Meaning:
Move into a strategically more advantageous position
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Context example:
develop the rook
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
play (participate in games or sport)
Verb group:
develop (move one's pieces into strategically more advantageous positions)
Domain category:
chess; chess game (a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
development (a state in which things are improving; the result of developing (as in the early part of a game of chess))
Sense 19
Meaning:
Elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Context example:
develop the melody and change the key
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
complicate; elaborate; rarify; refine (make more complex, intricate, or richer)
Verb group:
acquire; develop; evolve (gain through experience)
develop; explicate; formulate (elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 20
Meaning:
Happen
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
break; develop; recrudesce
Context example:
These political movements recrudesce from time to time
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)
Verb group:
develop (be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Derivation:
development (a recent event that has some relevance for the present situation)
Sense 21
Meaning:
Expand in the form of a series
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Context example:
Develop the function in the following form
Hypernyms (to "develop" is one way to...):
expand (make bigger or wider in size, volume, or quantity)
Domain category:
math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Context examples
Snapping away with a camera when he ought to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Her left arm had developed involuntary jerkings and twitchings.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Researchers developed a liver-inspired 3-D device made of hydrogel and nanoparticles that can remove toxins from blood.
(3-D gel-nanoparticle device detoxifies blood, NIH)
Adenocarcinomas developing in colorectal adenomas in patients with a history of adenomatous polyposis coli.
(Adenocarcinoma in Adenomatous Polyposis Coli, NCI Thesaurus)
There are some trees, Watson, which grow to a certain height, and then suddenly develop some unsightly eccentricity.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The virus is generally monomorphic and has been developed as a gene therapy vector for the treatment of numerous diseases.
(Adeno-Associated Virus Type 2, NCI Thesaurus)
Developed himself by peeling potatoes and washing dishes.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
An anxiety disorder characterized by an intense, irrational fear of venturing out into open places or situations in which help (or escape) might not be available should excessive anxiety or panic symptoms develop.
(Agoraphobia, NCI Thesaurus)
The team, developed a new technique that uses both local and distant earthquake data from the University of Utah Seismograph Stations and the EarthScope array of seismometers.
(Yellowstone magma discovery, NSF)
People with certain changes in the gene for melanocortin 1 receptor have a higher risk of developing melanoma (skin cancer that begins in melanocytes).
(Melanocortin 1 receptor, NCI Dictionary)
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