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[ adjective ] marked by complexity and richness of detail
Examples "an elaborate lace pattern" Used in print (The Providence Journal...)The sets are remarkably elaborate for a road-show that does n't pause long in any one place , and they are devised so_that they shift with a minimum of interruption or obtrusiveness . (Frank Oppenheimer, "Science and Fear-- A Discussion...)Our understanding of the solar_system has taught us to replace our former elaborate rituals with the appropriate action which , in this case , amounts to doing nothing . In agriculture , for_example , despite the advances in biology , elaborate rituals tend to persist along with a continued sense of the imminence of some natural disaster . (Chester G. Starr, The Origins of Greek Civili...)The potters , in_particular , had virtually eschewed freehand drawing , elaborate motifs , and the curving lines of nature , while yet expressing a belief that there was order in the universe . (Marvin Schiller, "The Sheep's in the Meadow,"...)Again among those jubilantly reunited bunkmates , I was shy with Jessie and acted as I had during those early Saturday mornings when we all seemed to be playing_for_effect , to be detached and unconcerned with the girls who were properly our dates but about whom , later , in the privacy of our bunks , we would think in_terms_of the most elaborate romance . Related terms |
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[ verb ] add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
Examples "She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation" Used in print (The Atlanta Constitution...)The jury did not elaborate , but it added that `` there should be periodic surveillance of the pricing practices of the concessionaires for the purpose of keeping the prices reasonable '' . (Chester G. Starr, The Origins of Greek Civili...)The severe yet harmonious vases of the previous fifty years , the Strong Geometric style of the late ninth century , display as firm a mastery of the principles underlying Geometric pottery ; but artists now were ready to refine and elaborate their inheritance . (J. H. Hexter, "Thomas More: On the Margins...)But to say that at a moment in history something is new is not necessarily to say that it is modern ; and for this statement the best evidence comes within the five years following the publication of Utopia , when Martin_Luther elaborates a new perception of the nature of the Divine 's encounter with man . |
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[ adjective ] developed or executed with care and in minute detail
Synonyms Examples "a detailed plan" "the elaborate register of the inhabitants prevented tax evasion"- John Buchan "the carefully elaborated theme" Used in print (Frank Oppenheimer, "Science and Fear-- A Discussion...)We perform elaborate international exhortations and ceremonies with virtually no understanding of social cause and effect . Related terms |
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[ verb ] produce from basic elements or sources; change into a more developed product
Examples "The bee elaborates honey" Related terms |
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[ verb ] make more complex, intricate, or richer
Synonyms Examples "refine a design or pattern" Related terms change involve develop sophisticate complication refinement complicatedness |
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[ verb ] work out in detail
Synonyms Examples "elaborate a plan" Related terms |
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