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.
  ◄ ►
  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]