improve
verb OPAL W
/ɪmˈpruːv/
/ɪmˈpruːv/
[intransitive, transitive]Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they improve | /ɪmˈpruːv/ /ɪmˈpruːv/ |
| he / she / it improves | /ɪmˈpruːvz/ /ɪmˈpruːvz/ |
| past simple improved | /ɪmˈpruːvd/ /ɪmˈpruːvd/ |
| past participle improved | /ɪmˈpruːvd/ /ɪmˈpruːvd/ |
| -ing form improving | /ɪmˈpruːvɪŋ/ /ɪmˈpruːvɪŋ/ |
- to become better than before; to make something/somebody better than before
- Overall the situation has improved dramatically.
- Things are improving every day.
- You should see your score improve significantly.
- Working conditions have greatly improved.
- His quality of life has improved dramatically since the operation.
- The doctor says she should continue to improve (= after an illness).
- I hope my French will improve when I go to France.
- improve something This vital service helps to improve the quality of life for people with cancer.
- measures to improve public health
- This was a much improved performance by the team.
- The goal was to improve the efficiency of the department.
- Engineers are working to improve this technology.
- improve yourself He's a guy who wants to improve himself, to be the best.
Extra ExamplesTopics Change, cause and effecta1, Illnessa1- The situation has improved dramatically during the last few months.
- The company needs to improve performance in all these areas.
- My father's mood had noticeably improved during the afternoon.
- The weather should continue to improve over the weekend.
- The economy had improved markedly.
- They are trying to improve the working conditions in their factories.
- I need to improve my French.
- You can significantly improve your chances of getting a job by compiling a good CV.
- We now offer a much improved service to our customers.
- Workers need to be given an incentive to improve their performance.
- Bringing the issue of pay into the debate did not improve matters.
- They're introducing a vastly improved public transport system.
- the new and improved version of the website
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- considerably
- dramatically
- drastically
- …
- continue to
- strive to
- try to
- …
- aimed at improving something
- an attempt to improve something
- an effort to improve something
- …
Word Originearly 16th cent. (as emprowe or improwe): from Anglo-Norman French emprower (based on Old French prou ‘profit’, ultimately from Latin prodest ‘is of advantage’); -owe was changed to -ove under the influence of prove. The original sense was ‘make a profit, increase the value of’; subsequently ‘make greater in amount or degree’.