Noun

1. Act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining
2. A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage)
3. (biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
4. A recent event that has some relevance for the present situation
5. The act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful
6. A district that has been developed to serve some purpose
7. A state in which things are improving; the result of developing (as in the early part of a game of chess)
8. Processing a photosensitive material in order to make an image visible
9. (music) the section of a composition or movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes are developed and elaborated