im·prove·ment /ɪmˈpruvmənt/
 U改進;C經改進的東西


 improvement
 自改進; 自我改善


 improvement
 改進


 Im·prove·ment n.
 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.”
    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.

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 improvement
      n 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]