[
US
/ɪˈɫæbɝˌeɪt, ɪˈɫæbɹət/
]
VERB
-
work out in detail
elaborate a plan -
make more complex, intricate, or richer
refine a design or pattern -
add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation -
produce from basic elements or sources; change into a more developed product
The bee elaborates honey
ADJECTIVE
-
developed or executed with care and in minute detail
a detailed plan
the carefully elaborated theme
the elaborate register of the inhabitants prevented tax evasion -
marked by complexity and richness of detail
an elaborate lace pattern
How To Use elaborate In A Sentence
- By the 3rd millennium B.C., they had developed a primitive form of cost accounting, elaborate techniques of budgeting and planning, and calculative techniques for devising labor standards.
- But Ms. Economy pointed to the elaborateness of concept and coordination of details — "the flowers are matching," she observed — leading her to suspect they may have had professional help bringing the Halloween spirit alive. Suburban Tricks, Urban Treats
- Some self-absorbed children play elaborate fantasy games by themselves, and one can admire their creativity and imagination.
- So weeding out potential jurors with unchangeable views on guilt or innocence has the elaborateness of celebrity trials like that of O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted at the same courthouse in 1995. Jackson jury Q&A tests media's grip
- More than 30 elaborate scarecrows are peering from hedgerows, fields and chimney pots, as part of the annual scarecrow competition.
- According to the prosecution, the officers manufactured an elaborate story.
- In the twelfth century the canon lawyers devised an elaborate, and comparatively humane, legal framework for poor relief.
- This involved quite elaborate dressing-up, and the fun and laughter of those Boxing Day nights was a treasure indeed.
- The bee elaborates honey
- Gob Woodhull, an imaginary son of the real 19th-century feminist, spiritualist and free-love advocate Victoria Woodhull, loses his twin brother in the Civil War and builds a vast and elaborate machine whose purpose is to "grieve" so efficiently that it will bring all of history's dead back to life. Time Tripping
