IMPROVEMENT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does improvement mean? 

• IMPROVEMENT (noun)
  The noun IMPROVEMENT has 3 senses:

1. a change for the better; progress in development

2. the act of improving something

3. a condition superior to an earlier condition

  Familiarity information: IMPROVEMENT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPROVEMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A change for the better; progress in development

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

advance; betterment; improvement

Hypernyms ("improvement" is a kind of...):

shift; transformation; transmutation (a qualitative change)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "improvement"):

resurgence; revitalisation; revitalization; revival; revivification (bringing again into activity and prominence)

elaboration; refinement (the result of improving something)

accommodation; adjustment; fitting (making or becoming suitable; adjusting to circumstances)

conservation; preservation (an occurrence of improvement by virtue of preventing loss or injury or other change)

recovery (return to an original state)

Derivation:

improve (get better)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of improving something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

their improvements increased the value of the property

Hypernyms ("improvement" is a kind of...):

change of state (the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "improvement"):

development (act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining)

upgrade (the act of improving something (especially machinery) by raising it to a higher grade (as by adding or replacing components))

stabilisation; stabilization (the act of making something (as a vessel or aircraft) less likely to overturn)

fix; fixing; fixture; mend; mending; repair; reparation (the act of putting something in working order again)

airing; ventilation (the act of supplying fresh air and getting rid of foul air)

upturn (an upward movement or trend as in business activity)

enhancement; sweetening (an improvement that makes something more agreeable)

overhaul; redevelopment; renovation (the act of improving by renewing and restoring)

modernisation; modernization (making modern in appearance or behavior)

humanisation; humanization (the act of making more human)

clarification; clearing (the act of removing solid particles from a liquid)

tenderisation; tenderization (the act of making meat tender by pounding or marinating it)

cleaning; cleansing; cleanup (the act of making something clean)

correction; rectification (the act of offering an improvement to replace a mistake; setting right)

optimisation; optimization (the act of rendering optimal)

perfection (the act of making something perfect)

reform (a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses)

amelioration; betterment; melioration (the act of relieving ills and changing for the better)

self-improvement; self-reformation (the act of improving yourself)

enrichment (act of making fuller or more meaningful or rewarding)

Derivation:

improve (to make better)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A condition superior to an earlier condition

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

improvement; melioration

Context example:

the new school represents a great improvement

Hypernyms ("improvement" is a kind of...):

condition; status (a state at a particular time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "improvement"):

betterment (an improvement that adds to the value of a property or facility)

development (a state in which things are improving; the result of developing (as in the early part of a game of chess))

reformation (improvement (or an intended improvement) in the existing form or condition of institutions or practices etc.; intended to make a striking change for the better in social or political or religious affairs)

refurbishment; renovation; restoration (the state of being restored to its former good condition)

Antonym:

decline (a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state)

Derivation:

improve (get better)

 Context examples 

The kitchen will not improve you, in the many respects in which you need improvement.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She tries very hard, and I know you will be pleased with her improvement when you come.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

If you are still capable of self-improvement, of which I am frankly unconvinced, you will surely return to London a wiser man.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Change towards improvement from the pretreatment baseline, but not meeting the criteria for Complete Response or Partial Response in chronic Graft versus Host Disease (cGVHD).

(Less Than Partial Response in cGVHD, NCI Thesaurus)

If he had more room, he would be able to put in a score of labor-saving and money-saving improvements.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

However it is not doubted, that this invention may be capable of great improvement.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

“All this she must possess,” added Darcy, “and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

A method of reconstruction used in PET and SPECT that repeats a series of calculation steps with image data such that there is an improvement in the image quality in each repetition.

(Iterative Reconstruction, NCI Thesaurus)

I shall leave the place probably in the course of a twelve-month; but while I do stay, I will exert myself to the utmost for its improvement.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Improvement in one or more organ or tissue without progression in other affected organs or tissue in chronic Graft versus Host Disease (cGVHD).

(Partial Response in cGVHD, NCI Thesaurus)