Link Centre Dictionary

develop

de·ve·lop

UK/ˈɖeʋᵊ.ləp/ US/dɪˈvɛl.əp/ common

verb

1.

make something new, such as a product or a mental or artistic creation

  • “Her company developed a new kind of building material that withstands all kinds of weather”
  • “They developed a new technique”
2.

work out

  • “We have developed a new theory of evolution”
Synonyms
3.

gain through experience

  • “I acquired a strong aversion to television”
  • “Children must develop a sense of right and wrong”
  • “Dave developed leadership qualities in his new position”
  • “develop a passion for painting”
Synonyms
4.

come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)

  • “He grew a beard”
  • “The patient developed abdominal pains”
  • “I got funny spots all over my body”
  • “Well-developed breasts”
Synonyms
5.

come into existence; take on form or shape

  • “A new religious movement originated in that country”
  • “a love that sprang up from friendship”
  • “the idea for the book grew out of a short story”
  • “An interesting phenomenon uprose”
Synonyms
6.

change the use of and make available or usable

  • “develop land”
  • “The country developed its natural resources”
  • “The remote areas of the country were gradually built up”
Synonyms
7.

elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses

  • “Could you develop the ideas in your thesis”
Synonyms
8.

create by training and teaching

  • “The old master is training world-class violinists”
  • “we develop the leaders for the future”
Synonyms
9.

be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest

  • “The plot developed slowly”
10.

grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment

  • “A flower developed on the branch”
  • “The country developed into a mighty superpower”
  • “The embryo develops into a fetus”
  • “This situation has developed over a long time”
11.

become technologically advanced

  • “Many countries in Asia are now developing at a very fast pace”
  • “Viet Nam is modernizing rapidly”
Synonyms
12.

cause to grow and differentiate in ways conforming to its natural development

  • “The perfect climate here develops the grain”
  • “He developed a new kind of apple”
Synonyms
13.

generate gradually

  • “We must develop more potential customers”
  • “develop a market for the new mobile phone”
14.

grow emotionally or mature

  • “The child developed beautifully in her new kindergarten”
  • “When he spent a summer at camp, the boy grew noticeably and no longer showed some of his old adolescent behavior”
Synonyms
15.

make visible by means of chemical solutions

  • “Please develop this roll of film for me”
16.
17.

move one''s pieces into strategically more advantageous positions

  • “Spassky developed quickly”
18.

move into a strategically more advantageous position

  • “develop the rook”
19.

elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme

  • “develop the melody and change the key”
20.

happen

  • “Report the news as it develops”
  • “These political movements recrudesce from time to time”
Synonyms
21.

expand in the form of a series

  • “Develop the function in the following form”

Origin

Borrowed from French développer, from Middle French desveloper, from Old French desveloper, from des- + voloper, veloper, vloper (“to wrap, wrap up”) (compare Italian sviluppare, Old Italian alternative form goluppare (“to wrap”)) from Vulgar Latin *vloppō, *wloppō (“to wrap”) ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wrappaną, *wlappaną (“to wrap, roll up, turn, wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to turn, bend”) http://www.wordnik.com/words/envelop. Akin to Middle English wlappen (“to wrap, fold”) (Modern English lap (“to wrap, involve, fold”)), Middle English wrappen (“to wrap”), Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind, twist”), Middle Low German wrempen (“to wrinkle, scrunch, distort”), Old English wearp (“warp”). The word acquired its modern meaning from the 17th-century belief that an egg contains the animal in miniature and matures by growing larger and shedding its envelopes.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Related verbs

Causes

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.