Adjacent Words

Elaborate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ELAB'ORATE, v.t. [L. elaboro, from laboro, labor. See Labor.]
1. To produce with labor.
They in full joy elaborate a sigh.
2. To improve or refine by successive operations. The heat of the sun elaborates the juices of plants and renders the fruit more perfect.
ELAB'ORATE, a. [L. elaboratus.] Wrought with labor; finished with great diligence; studies; executed with exactness; as an elaborate discourse; an elaborate performance.
Drawn to the life in each elaborate page.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: marked by complexity and richness of detail; "an elaborate lace pattern" [syn: elaborate, luxuriant]
2: developed or executed with care and in minute detail; "a detailed plan"; "the elaborate register of the inhabitants prevented tax evasion"- John Buchan; "the carefully elaborated theme" [syn: detailed, elaborate, elaborated] v
1: add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; "She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation" [syn: elaborate, lucubrate, expatiate, exposit, enlarge, flesh out, expand, expound, dilate] [ant: abbreviate, abridge, contract, cut, foreshorten, reduce, shorten]
2: produce from basic elements or sources; change into a more developed product; "The bee elaborates honey"
3: make more complex, intricate, or richer; "refine a design or pattern" [syn: complicate, refine, rarify, elaborate]
4: work out in detail; "elaborate a plan" [syn: elaborate, work out]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Latin elaboratus, from past participle of elaborare to work out, acquire by labor, from e- + laborare to work — more at laboratory Date: 1592 1. planned or carried out with great care <took elaborate precautions> 2. marked by complexity, fullness of detail, or ornateness <elaborate prose> • elaborately adverb • elaborateness noun II. verb (-rated; -rating) Date: 1611 transitive verb 1. to produce by labor 2. to build up (as complex organic compounds) from simple ingredients 3. to work out in detail ; develop <elaborate a theory> intransitive verb 1. to become elaborate 2. to expand something in detail <would you care to elaborate on that statement> • elaboration noun • elaborative adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & v. --adj. 1 carefully or minutely worked out. 2 highly developed or complicated. --v.tr. 1 a work out or explain in detail. b (absol.) go into details (I need not elaborate). 2 produce by labour. 3 (of a natural agency) produce (a substance etc.) from its elements or sources. Derivatives: elaborately adv. elaborateness n. elaboration n. elaborative adj. elaborator n. Etymology: L elaboratus past part. of elaborare (as E-, labor work)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Elaborate E*lab"o*rate, a. [L. elaboratus, p. p. of elaborare to work out; e out + laborare to labor, labor labor. See Labor.] Wrought with labor; finished with great care; studied; executed with exactness or painstaking; as, an elaborate discourse; an elaborate performance; elaborate research. Drawn to the life in each elaborate page. --Waller. Syn: Labored; complicated; studied; perfected; high-wrought. -- E*lab"o*rate*ly, adv. -- E*lab"o*rate*ness, n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Elaborate E*lab"o*rate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Elaborated; p. pr. & vb. n. Elaborating.] 1. To produce with labor They in full joy elaborate a sigh, --Young. 2. To perfect with painstaking; to improve or refine with labor and study, or by successive operations; as, to elaborate a painting or a literary work. The sap is . . . still more elaborated and exalted as it circulates through the vessels of the plant. --Arbuthnot.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(elaborating, elaborated) 1. You use elaborate to describe something that is very complex because it has a lot of different parts. ...an elaborate research project. ...an elaborate ceremony that lasts for eight days. = complicated ADJ: usu ADJ n 2. Elaborate plans, systems, and procedures are complicated because they have been planned in very great detail, sometimes too much detail. ...elaborate efforts at the highest level to conceal the problem. ...an elaborate management training scheme for graduates. = complicated ADJ: usu ADJ n • elaborately It was clearly an elaborately planned operation. ADV 3. Elaborate clothing or material is made with a lot of detailed artistic designs. He is known for his elaborate costumes. ADJ: usu ADJ n • elaborately ...elaborately costumed dolls. ADV 4. If you elaborate a plan or theory, you develop it by making it more complicated and more effective. His task was to elaborate policies which would make a market economy compatible with a clean environment. VERB: V n • elaboration ...the elaboration of specific policies and mechanisms. N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n 5. If you elaborate on something that has been said, you say more about it, or give more details. A spokesman declined to elaborate on a statement released late yesterday... Would you care to elaborate? VERB: V on n, V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Bestow labor upon, work out. 2. Improve, refine, mature, ripen, prepare thoroughly, work out with (great) care. II. a. 1. Labored, studied, elaborately prepared. 2. High-wrought, highly finished, minutely and intricately wrought.

Moby Thesaurus

Babylonian, Byzantine, Corinthian, Gongoresque, Gongoristic, Marinistic, adorn, affected, amplify, arabesque, artificial, assemble, assiduous, awe-inspiring, awful, balled up, barbaric, baroque, beautify, build, busy, cast, chichi, clarify, comment, complete, complex, complicated, compose, compound, concoct, confounded, confused, construct, convolute, convoluted, crabbed, create, cultivate, daedal, decorate, decorated, deluxe, descant, detail, detailed, develop, devious, devise, dilate, diligent, discuss, dressy, dwell upon, elaborated, elegant, embellish, embellished, embrangled, embroider, enlarge, enlarge upon, enrich, entangled, enter into detail, erect, euphuistic, evolve, expand, expatiate, explain, explicate, expound, extravagant, extrude, fabricate, fancy, fashion, festoon, fine, finish, flamboyant, florid, flourish, flowery, form, formulate, fouled up, frame, frilly, fudge together, fussy, get up, gild, glorious, go into, gordian, grand, grandiose, high-wrought, hyperelegant, implicated, imposing, impressive, indite, industrious, interpret, intricate, involuted, involve, involved, knotted, knotty, labor, labored, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, load with ornament, loused up, luxuriant, luxurious, magnificent, majestic, make, make up, mannered, manufacture, many-faceted, matted, mature, mazy, meandering, messed up, mixed up, mold, moresque, mucked up, multifarious, noble, operose, ornament, ornate, ostentatious, overcharge, overdone, overelaborate, overelegant, overlabored, overlay, overload, overnice, overrefined, overworked, overwrought, painstaking, palatial, particularize, patch together, perfect, perplexed, picturesque, piece together, plush, polish, posh, precieuse, precieux, precious, prefabricate, prepare, pretentious, pretty-pretty, princely, produce, proud, put together, put up, raise, ramified, rear, refine, rehearse in extenso, relate at large, rich, ripen, ritzy, rococo, roundabout, run up, screwed up, season, sedulous, set up, shape, snarled, sophisticated, spell out, splendacious, splendid, splendiferous, stately, studied, subtle, sumptuous, superb, superfancy, superfine, swank, swanky, swell, tangled, tangly, thorough, thoroughgoing, trick out, twisted, unfold, unnatural, varnish, whomp up, work out, write