1. To bring from latency to or toward fulfillment: an instructor who develops the capabilities of each student.

2. a. To expand or enlarge: developed a national corporation into a worldwide business. b. To aid in the growth of; strengthen: exercises that develop muscles. c. To improve the quality of; refine: develops his recipes to perfection; an extra year of study to develop virtuosic technique.

3. a. To cause to become more complex or intricate; add detail and fullness to; elaborate: began with a good premise but developed it without imagination. b. Music. To elaborate (a theme) with rhythmic and harmonic variations.

4. a. To bring into being gradually: develop a new cottage industry. b. To set forth or clarify by degrees: developed her thesis in a series of articles.

5. a. To come to have gradually; acquire: develop a taste for opera; develop a friendship. b. To become affected with; contract: developed a rash; developed agoraphobia.

6. To cause gradually to acquire a specific role, function, or form, as: a. To influence the behavior of toward a specific end: an investigator who develops witnesses through flattery and intimidation. b. To cause (a tract of land) to serve a particular purpose: developed the site as a community of condominiums. c. To make available and effective to fulfill a particular end or need: develop the state's water resources to serve a growing population. d. To convert or transform: developed the play into a movie.

7. Games. To move (a chess piece) to or toward a more strategic position.

8. a. To process (a photosensitive material), especially with chemicals, in order to render a recorded image visible. b. To render (an image) visible by this means.

1. a. To grow by degrees into a more advanced or mature state: With hard work, she developed into a great writer. See synonyms at mature. b. To increase or expand. c. To improve; advance: Their skill developed until it rivaled their teacher's.

2. To come gradually into existence or activity: Tension developed between students and faculty.

3. To come gradually to light; be disclosed: reports the news as it develops.

4. Biology. a. To progress from earlier to later stages of a life cycle: Caterpillars develop into butterflies. b. To progress from earlier to later or from simpler to more complex stages of evolution.