Improvement1. (n.) 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.
2. (n.) The act of making profitable use or application 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.
3. (n.) The state of being improved; betterment; advance; also, that which is improved; as, the new edition is an improvement on the old.
4. (n.) Increase; growth; progress; advance.
5. (n.) Valuable additions or betterments, as buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
6. (n.) A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.
Thesaurus Entries
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