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Definition of elaborate verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

elaborate

verb
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪt/
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they elaborate
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪt/
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪt/
he / she / it elaborates
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪts/
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪts/
past simple elaborated
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪtɪd/
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪtɪd/
past participle elaborated
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪtɪd/
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪtɪd/
-ing form elaborating
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪtɪŋ/
 
/ɪˈlæbəreɪtɪŋ/
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  1. [intransitive, transitive] to explain or describe something in a more detailed way
    • elaborate (on/upon something) He said he was resigning but did not elaborate on his reasons.
    • elaborate something She went on to elaborate her argument.
    Extra Examples
    • Let me briefly elaborate on this.
    • They refused to elaborate on the reasons for their decision.
    • This point will be elaborated further in the next chapter.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • further
    • at length
    • briefly
    verb + elaborate
    • attempt to
    • try to
    • refuse to
    preposition
    • on
    • upon
    See full entry
  2. [transitive] elaborate something to develop a plan, an idea, etc. and make it complicated or detailed
    • In his plays he takes simple traditional tales and elaborates them.
  3. Word Originlate 16th cent. (in the sense ‘produced by effort of labour’): from Latin elaborat- ‘worked out’, from the verb elaborare, from e- (variant of ex-) ‘out’ + labor ‘work’.
See elaborate in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee elaborate in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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