ELABORATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does elaboration mean? 

• ELABORATION (noun)
  The noun ELABORATION has 5 senses:

1. addition of extra material or illustration or clarifying detail

2. the result of improving something

3. a discussion that provides additional information

4. marked by elaborately complex detail

5. developing in intricate and painstaking detail

  Familiarity information: ELABORATION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ELABORATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Addition of extra material or illustration or clarifying detail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

amplification; elaboration

Context example:

an elaboration of the sketch followed

Hypernyms ("elaboration" is a kind of...):

expanding upon; expansion (adding information or detail)

Derivation:

elaborate (add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The result of improving something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

elaboration; refinement

Context example:

he described a refinement of this technique

Hypernyms ("elaboration" is a kind of...):

advance; betterment; improvement (a change for the better; progress in development)

Derivation:

elaborate (make more complex, intricate, or richer)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A discussion that provides additional information

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

elaboration; enlargement; expansion

Hypernyms ("elaboration" is a kind of...):

discourse; discussion; treatment (an extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "elaboration"):

expatiation (a discussion (spoken or written) that enlarges on a topic or theme at length or in detail)

embellishment; embroidery (elaboration of an interpretation by the use of decorative (sometimes fictitious) detail)

Derivation:

elaborate (add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Marked by elaborately complex detail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

elaborateness; elaboration; intricacy; involution

Hypernyms ("elaboration" is a kind of...):

complexity; complexness (the quality of being intricate and compounded)

Derivation:

elaborate (make more complex, intricate, or richer)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Developing in intricate and painstaking detail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

elaboration; working out

Hypernyms ("elaboration" is a kind of...):

development (act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining)

Derivation:

elaborate (work out in detail)

elaborate (make more complex, intricate, or richer)

elaborate (produce from basic elements or sources; change into a more developed product)

 Context examples 

An elaboration of the sequence of events that play a role in organismal defense responses.

(Immune Response Regulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus)

The distinguishing feature of EHEC is the elaboration of Shiga-like toxin (Stx).

(Pathogenic Escherichia coli Infection Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

An elaboration of the biological or biochemical events that are involved in the maintenance of the internal physiology of an organism.

(Homeostasis Regulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus)

An elaboration of a sequence of physiological events that are elicited by the administration of a drug.

(Drug Pathway, NCI Thesaurus)

An elaboration of a sequence of biological or biochemical events that play a role in the metabolism of carbohydrates.

(Carbohydrate Metabolism Pathway, NCI Thesaurus)

An elaboration of the known steps and interactions required to allow cell movement.

(Cell Motility Pathway, NCI Thesaurus)

Any cellular process that results in the elaboration of adhesion molecules on the cell surface.

(Adhesion Factor Production, NCI Thesaurus)

An elaboration of the known steps and interactions for the metabolism of a compound.

(Metabolic Pathway, NCI Thesaurus)