What does “develop” mean?
- 1
verbto grow or change into something bigger, stronger or more advanced
The town developed into a busy city.
- 2
verbto make or create something new over time
The company is developing a new app.
- 3
verbto start to have an illness, problem or feeling
He developed a cough last week.
Develop at a glance
- Part of speech
- verb
- CEFR level
- A2 (elementary)
- Pronunciation
- /dɪˈvɛləp/ · dih-VEL-up
How to use “develop” correctly
There’s no “e” at the end: “develop”, “developed”, “developing”.
Common phrases with “develop”
- develop skills
- develop a plan
- developing countries
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Word family
- development
- developer
- developing
- developed
“develop” is on these word lists
Learn these words next
- act verbA2to do something, especially to deal with a situation
- allow verbA2to give someone permission to do something
- become verbA2to begin to be something
- carry verbA2to hold something and take it with you from one place to another
- catch verbA2to take hold of something that is moving through the air
- continue verbA2to keep doing something or keep happening without stopping
- cover verbA2to put something over something else to protect or hide it
- create verbA2to make something new exist