verb

• 1Make or become better.

  with object ‘efforts to improve relations between the countries’

  More example sentences

  • ‘communications improved during the 18th century’
  • ‘What should be done is use the money from the resulting fines to improve road safety conditions in these areas.’
  • ‘For a short time his condition seemed to be improving but later on in the week he contracted pneumonia and one of his lungs collapsed.’
  • ‘Book cover design has improved drastically since the middle of the last decade.’
  • ‘All aspects of sleep performance were significantly improved in the intervention group.’
  • ‘Treatment for the condition has improved significantly in recent years following the introduction of a number of new drugs.’
  • ‘Outcomes were significantly improved with combination therapy.’
  • ‘All physical symptoms improved substantially in the first month of antidepressant use but plateaued during the course of the study.’
  • ‘While the march of technology continually improves our health, it creates new scenarios and novel questions.’
  • ‘His condition gradually improved over the course of several weeks of inpatient treatment.’
  • ‘Many also said that their health markedly improved when they began volunteer work.’
  • ‘In developed countries over the past 30 years, better perinatal care has considerably improved these outcomes.’
  • ‘Sinusitis has been associated with asthma severity, and consistently, asthma symptoms frequently improve after sinusitis treatment.’
  • ‘If the economy improves towards the end of this year, as expected, interest rates will start to rise.’
  • ‘Hotels, food, facilities, transport and entertainment have all improved beyond recognition.’
  • ‘On the face of it, our lives have improved beyond recognition.’
  • ‘If the patient improves with the use of medication, no further evaluation may be necessary.’
  • ‘With Wednesday's win, his record improves to three wins in seven starts.’
  • ‘In fact, verbal ability and other knowledge-based abilities seem to improve with age.’
  • ‘Ultimately, the goal is to establish more accountability and improve teaching.’
  • ‘She said Bali's living conditions have now improved due to the increase in the tourism industry.’

  Synonyms

  make better, better, ameliorate, upgrade, refine, enhance, boost, build on, help, raise, revamp, brush up, polish up, perk up, tweak

  get better, become better, advance, progress, develop

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1with object Develop or increase in mental capacity by education or experience.
     ‘I subscribed to two magazines to improve my mind’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Curtin remained committed towards improving himself and the lives of the underprivileged in Australian society.’
     • ‘It doesn't matter how brainy you are or how much education you've had - you can still improve and expand your mind.’
  2. 1.2improve on/uponno object Achieve or produce something better than.
     ‘they are trying to improve on the tired old style’
     More example sentences

     • ‘If they succeed, they will at least have improved on the standing they achieved in this competition two years ago.’
     • ‘A lot of work has been done and what the country needs is to improve on what has been achieved.’
     • ‘I find little to dispute in much of what he writes about strengthening the NHS and fighting child poverty and improving on the best of what the government has achieved.’
     • ‘He predicted that if that co-operation continued and was improved upon, a greater success rate could be achieved.’
     • ‘They all improved on their predicted exam grades with several students achieving their best grade in business studies.’
     • ‘Despite this, he went on to achieve a personal best in the shot and improved on his personal best in the high jump, achieving 1.55 metres.’
     • ‘The goal of each test is to improve on the last test until you achieve the results you need.’
     • ‘But once a dialogue has been delivered on stage, the actor has no chance of improving upon it.’
     • ‘I think that's because I can usually see a potential for the story or idea that the original filmmaker didn't, which goes back to the original idea of improving upon as opposed to merely referencing.’
     • ‘The achievement of the Authorised Version was made possible by a team of translators working and improving upon previous translations.’
     Synonyms

     surpass, better, do better than, outdo, exceed, beat, top, trump, cap, outstrip, overshadow, go one better than

     View synonyms