 3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
improvement
noun
1: the act of improving something; "their improvements
increased the value of the property"
2: a change for the better; progress in development [syn: {betterment},
{advance}]
3: a condition superior to an earlier condition; "the new
school represents a great improvement" [syn: {melioration}]
[ant: {decline}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Improvement \Im*prove"ment\, noun
1. The act of improving; advancement or growth; promotion in
desirable qualities; progress toward what is better;
melioration; as, the improvement of the mind, of land,
roads, etc.
I look upon your city as the best place of
improvement. --South.
Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all
our faculties. --Blair.
2. The act of making profitable use or applicaton of
anything, or the state of being profitably employed; a
turning to good account; practical application, as of a
doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse. ''A
good improvement of his reason.'' --S. Clarke.
I shall make some improvement of this doctrine.
--Tillotson.
3. The state of being improved; betterment; advance; also,
that which is improved; as, the new edition is an
improvement on the old.
The parts of Sinon, Camilla, and some few others,
are improvements on the Greek poet. --Addison.
4. Increase; growth; progress; advance.
There is a design of publishing the history of
architecture, with its several improvements and
decays. --Addison.
Those vices which more particularly receive
improvement by prosperity. --South.
5. pl. Valuable additions or betterments, as buildings,
clearings, drains, fences, etc., on land or premises; as,
to convey the land together with all improvements.
6. (Patent Laws) A useful addition to, or modification of, a
machine, manufacture, or composition. --Kent.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
132 Moby Thesaurus words for "improvement":
about-face, accommodation, adaptation, adjustment, advance,
alteration, amelioration, amendment, apostasy, apprenticeship,
basic training, betterment, break, breaking, breeding, change,
change of allegiance, change of heart, change of mind,
changeableness, conditioning, constructive change, continuity,
convalescence, conversion, cultivation, defection, degeneration,
degenerative change, deterioration, development, deviation,
difference, discipline, discontinuity, divergence, diversification,
diversion, diversity, drill, drilling, enhancement, exercise,
fetching-up, fitting, flip-flop, fostering, gain, gradual change,
grooming, housebreaking, in-service training, increase,
instauration, manual training, melioration, military training,
mitigation, modification, modulation, new birth, nurture,
nurturing, on-the-job training, overthrow, practice, preparation,
progress, qualification, radical change, raising, re-creation,
reactivation, readying, realignment, rearing, rebirth, reclamation,
reconstitution, reconversion, recovery, recrudescence,
recuperation, redemption, redesign, redintegration, reenactment,
reestablishment, reform, reformation, regeneration, rehabilitation,
rehearsal, reinstatement, reinstation, reinstitution,
reinvestiture, reinvestment, remaking, renascence, renewal, repair,
replacement, reshaping, restitution, restoration, restructuring,
reversal, reversion, revival, revivification, revolution, rise,
shift, sloyd, sudden change, switch, total change, training,
transition, turn, turnabout, upbringing, upgrading, upheaval,
upswing, variation, variety, violent change, vocational education,
vocational training, worsening
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