Noun
1. act of improving by expanding or 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 evolution of Greek civilization""the slow development of her skill as a writer"3. a recent event that has some relevance for the present situation;
"recent developments in Iraq""what a revolting development!"4. the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful;
"the development of Alaskan resources""the exploitation of copper deposits"5. a district that has been developed to serve some purpose;
"such land is practical for small park developments"6. 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"7. (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"8. processing a photosensitive material in order to make an image visible;
"the development and printing of his pictures took only two hours"