Synonyms

develop

American

[dih-vel-uhp] / dɪˈvɛl əp /

verb (used with object)

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.
to cause to grow or expand.

to develop one's muscles.
to elaborate or expand in detail.

to develop a theory.
to bring into being or activity; generate; evolve.
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.
Biology.
1. to cause to go through the process of natural evolution from a previous and lower stage.
2. to cause to progress from an embryonic to an adult form.
Mathematics. to express in an extended form, as in a series.
Music. to unfold, by various technical means, the inherent possibilities of (a theme).
Photography.
1. to render visible (the latent image on an exposed film or the like).
2. to treat (an exposed film or the like) with chemicals so as to render the latent image visible.
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.
Mining. to prepare (a new mine) for working by digging access openings and building necessary structures.

verb (used without object)

to grow into a more mature or advanced state; advance; expand.

She is developing into a good reporter.
to come gradually into existence or operation; be evolved.
to be disclosed; become evident or manifest.

The plot of the novel developed slowly.
to undergo developing, as a photographic film.
Biology.
1. to progress from an embryonic to an adult form.
2. to progress from earlier to later stages of ontogeny or phylogeny.
3. to reach sexual maturity.

develop British

/ dɪˈvɛləp /

verb

to come or bring to a later or more advanced or expanded stage; grow or cause to grow gradually
(tr) to elaborate or work out in detail
to disclose or unfold (thoughts, a plot, etc) gradually or (of thoughts, etc) to be gradually disclosed or unfolded
to come or bring into existence; generate or be generated

he developed a new faith in God
to follow as a result (of); ensue (from)

a row developed following the chairman's remarks
(tr) to contract (a disease or illness)
(tr) to improve the value or change the use of (land), as by building
(tr) to exploit or make available the natural resources of (a country or region)
(tr) photog
1. 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
2. to process (photographic material) in order to produce negatives and prints
biology to progress or cause to progress from simple to complex stages in the growth of an individual or the evolution of a species
(tr) to elaborate upon (a musical theme) by varying the melody, key, etc
(tr) maths to expand (a function or expression) in the form of a series
(tr) geometry to project or roll out (a surface) onto a plane without stretching or shrinking any element
chess to bring (a piece) into play from its initial position on the back rank
obsolete (tr) to disclose or reveal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

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.

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Vocabulary lists containing develop

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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:

develop develops developed developing

Wilson does acknowledge that there is a risk that higher yields develop into a headwind for growth but at this stage, this is not the case.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

Symptoms usually develop within 30 minutes to two hours of consuming lactose and can last from five to 10 minutes up to a few hours.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Because this cooling process takes place underground, the minerals have time to develop into relatively large crystals.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

A warm night will follow with temperatures only dropping a few degrees, but heavier bursts of rain are expected to develop through the night.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Consequently, the Greeks and the Romans were incapable of formulating the idea of laws of nature, and without them they could not develop modern science.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

But not everyone who has trouble digesting lactose develops symptoms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Roughly two-thirds of the global population has trouble digesting lactose, but only a fraction actually develops symptomatic lactose intolerance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

As the system matures, that environment develops into a gas-poor debris disk.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

As an El Niño develops, the typical east-to-west trade winds along the equator weaken or even reverse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

So what it amounts to is that there won’t be much I can do, not until I see how the sickness develops.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

Drugs for lethal injections are also hard to obtain because many pharmaceutical companies do not want to sell the medications to prisons for that use, since they were developed for life-saving purposes.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

But Ratusznik said it was a commercial choice for the studio based in Krakow and which is known for having developed the "Ghostrunner" game.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

Miguel Oleaga co-manages a $1.9 billion fund that holds only 41 stocks across developed economies.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

To investigate whether this decline actually contributed to aging, the team developed genetically modified mice in which Menin could be selectively disabled.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

As it developed, the flu forfeits didn’t affect Bobby’s pairings or score.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

In Iowa, a company with an unproven record in the U.S. steel industry is developing what will be one of the largest and most expensive steel mills in the country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Together, these effects could make the compound useful in developing wound care products that address several challenges associated with healing.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Like Kane, he looks like a player who is developing a little later, compared to others who are Premier League regulars before the end of their teens.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Nations are lagging behind a pledge to raise $200 billion a year for biodiversity by 2030 from public and private sources, including $30 billion a year in international finance for developing countries.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

This tends to change the rules for using and developing melodies, so the terms used to talk about contrapuntal melodies are different, too.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023