develop
Americanverb (used with object)
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develops,
present (3rd person singular)
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developed,
past participle, past
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developing
present participle
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to bring out the capabilities or possibilities of; bring to a more advanced or effective state.
to develop natural resources; to develop one's musical talent.
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to cause to grow or expand.
to develop one's muscles.
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to elaborate or expand in detail.
to develop a theory.
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to bring into being or activity; generate; evolve.
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Drafting. to transfer the details of (a more or less two-dimensional design, pattern, or the like) from one surface, especially one that is prismatic or cylindrical, onto another, usually planar, in such a way that the distances between points remain the same.
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Biology.
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to cause to go through the process of natural evolution from a previous and lower stage.
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to cause to progress from an embryonic to an adult form.
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Mathematics. to express in an extended form, as in a series.
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Music. to unfold, by various technical means, the inherent possibilities of (a theme).
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Photography.
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to render visible (the latent image on an exposed film or the like).
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to treat (an exposed film or the like) with chemicals so as to render the latent image visible.
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Chess. to bring (a piece) into effective play, especially during the initial phase of a game when pieces are moved from their original position on the board.
He developed his rook by castling.
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Mining. to prepare (a new mine) for working by digging access openings and building necessary structures.
verb (used without object)
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develops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
developed,
past participle, past
-
developing
present participle
-
to grow into a more mature or advanced state; advance; expand.
She is developing into a good reporter.
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to come gradually into existence or operation; be evolved.
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to be disclosed; become evident or manifest.
The plot of the novel developed slowly.
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to undergo developing, as a photographic film.
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Biology.
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to progress from an embryonic to an adult form.
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to progress from earlier to later stages of ontogeny or phylogeny.
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to reach sexual maturity.
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verb
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to come or bring to a later or more advanced or expanded stage; grow or cause to grow gradually
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(tr) to elaborate or work out in detail
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to disclose or unfold (thoughts, a plot, etc) gradually or (of thoughts, etc) to be gradually disclosed or unfolded
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to come or bring into existence; generate or be generated
he developed a new faith in God
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to follow as a result (of); ensue (from)
a row developed following the chairman's remarks
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(tr) to contract (a disease or illness)
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(tr) to improve the value or change the use of (land), as by building
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(tr) to exploit or make available the natural resources of (a country or region)
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(tr) photog
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to treat (film, plate, or paper previously exposed to light, or the latent image in such material) with chemical solutions in order to produce a visible image
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to process (photographic material) in order to produce negatives and prints
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biology to progress or cause to progress from simple to complex stages in the growth of an individual or the evolution of a species
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(tr) to elaborate upon (a musical theme) by varying the melody, key, etc
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(tr) maths to expand (a function or expression) in the form of a series
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(tr) geometry to project or roll out (a surface) onto a plane without stretching or shrinking any element
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chess to bring (a piece) into play from its initial position on the back rank
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obsolete (tr) to disclose or reveal
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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developabilitynoun
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misdevelopverb
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predevelopverb
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developableadjective
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half-developedadjective
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hyperdevelopedadjective
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nondevelopableadjective
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undevelopableadjective
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well-developedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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developsimple
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developssimple
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have developedperfect
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has developedperfect
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am developingprogressive
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are developingprogressive
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is developingprogressive
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have been developingperfect progressive
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has been developingperfect progressive
Past
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developedsimple
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had developedperfect
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was developingprogressive
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were developingprogressive
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had been developingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of develop
First recorded in 1585–95; from Middle French développer, Old French desveloper, equivalent to des- dis- 1 ( def. ) + voloper “to wrap up”; see envelop ( def. )
Explanation
When something develops, it grows. And if you develop something, you create it. Your cold might develop into a rare disease, and you might just develop the vaccine to stop its spread. Develop is a verb that means to build up, grow, or improve gradually over time. A developer is someone who develops land into shopping malls, schools, and skyscrapers. The process can take months, but eventually they will transform a pile of dirt into a building. Many years ago, people would develop photographs by dipping them into various chemicals. As the pictures developed, an image would gradually appear.
Vocabulary lists containing develop
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 2
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PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In April 2025, a study in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences examined mice engineered to develop features of Alzheimer's disease.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
Many also shared ideas for gaining visibility into who’s spending what and coaxing employees to develop some awareness of AI pricing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
It provides context, but does not predict whether or not you will develop dementia.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
It took just a few minutes to develop those skills and upload them to Freddo.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Rather than a system, Schulwerk combines instruments, singing, movement, and speech to develop children’s innate musical abilities.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Legend develops and sells Carvykti with Johnson & Johnson as part of a 2017 deal in which the companies split profits equally outside China, while Legend keeps 70% of profits inside China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
On the streets of Shanghai, 42-year-old Xie Zongbo said "no new technology develops completely smoothly".
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Many countries, including the UK, have sought to regulate AI through existing laws rather than legislate - amid concern it could quickly date as AI develops.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX develops the Grok AI model, weighed in on X as well, writing that Amodei was ”right.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 12, 2026
The grain in wild grasses develops near the top of the stem.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Through his record label Dcypha, he also signed and developed artists including Tiggs Da Author and KSI.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The affected aircraft are less than four years old and boast new, more fuel-efficient engines developed by Pratt & Whitney that entered into service with Air Corsica in 2022.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
According to the model, the conditions needed to create and rapidly grow these black holes developed naturally in the early Universe.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
New analysis techniques developed in recent years have provided strong evidence that theropods like T. rex, velociraptors and other two-legged dinosaurs were endothermic animals like mammals and birds, rather than cold-blooded, or exothermic, like reptiles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
By then the chef had exposed me to the exciting flavors and sauces of French cuisine, and I’d developed a taste for them.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Earlier research has suggested that anticoagulant treatment may lower the risk of developing dementia, but far less is known about whether these drugs influence cognitive decline after Alzheimer's disease has already been diagnosed.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
"Those who have created these technologies are now increasingly warning that AI risks developing darker capacities - perhaps even to take life," the King told the executives.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Hyundai Mobis is positioned to generate revenue from robotics by developing high-precision actuators for the Atlas humanoid robots of robotics subsidiary Boston Dynamics, they note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Scientists from UVM and RS Oncology, working with the University of Leicester and other institutions in the UK, are developing second-generation PRX3 inhibitors with improved solubility.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
English mathematicians fell far behind their Continental counterparts when it came to developing calculus.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
