dev.

Noun

development (countable and uncountable, plural developments)

1. (uncountable) The process of developing; growth, directed change.
   • The development of this story has been slow.

   Synonyms:

   conversion, metamorphosis, transformation, transfiguration, transfigurement, transmogrification, transmutation, sea change

2. (uncountable) The process by which a mature multicellular organism or part of an organism is produced by the addition of new cells.
   • The organism has reached a crucial stage in its development.
3. (countable) Something which has developed.
   • Our news team brings you the latest developments.
4. (countable) A project consisting of one or more commercial or residential buildings.
5. (uncountable) The building of such a project.
6. (uncountable) The application of new ideas to practical problems (cf. research).
   • Our development department has produced three new adhesives this year.

See all 11 meanings of development

Noun

developer (plural developers)

1. A person or entity engaged in the creation or improvement of certain classes of products.
2. A real estate developer; a person or company who prepares a parcel of land for sale, or creates structures on that land.
   • Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."2013 June 21, Chico Harlan, “After Fukushima, Japan beginning to see the light in solar energy”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 30
3. A film developer; a person who uses chemicals to create photographs from photograph negatives.
4. A liquid used in the chemical processing of traditional photos.
5. A reagent used to produce an ingrain color by its action upon some substance on the fiber.
6. A software developer; a person or company who creates or modifies computer software.
   • More important, when we looked at who worked in that industry, we noticed that programmers were in the minority. They’re dwarfed by, among other occupations, the software developers. The two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but the jobs follow very different trajectories. Nationwide...2025 March 14, Andrew Van Dam, “Department of Data: More than a quarter of computer-programming jobs just vanished. What happened? Learning to code was supposedly the salvation of millions of liberal...