elaborate Meaning, Definition & Usage

verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
expound; lucubrate; dilate; expatiate; enlarge; exposit; flesh out; expand.
- She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation
verb produce from basic elements or sources; change into a more developed product
- The bee elaborates honey
verb make more complex, intricate, or richer
rarify; complicate; refine.
- refine a design or pattern
verb work out in detail
work out.
- elaborate a plan
adjective satellite marked by complexity and richness of detail
luxuriant.
- an elaborate lace pattern
adjective satellite developed or executed with care and in minute detail
detailed; elaborated.
- a detailed plan
- the elaborate register of the inhabitants prevented tax evasion"- John Buchan
- the carefully elaborated theme

L. elaboratus, p. p. of elaborare to work out; e out + laborare to labor, labor labor. See Labor.

Wrought with labor; finished with great care; studied; executed with exactness or painstaking; as, an elaborate discourse; an elaborate performance; elaborate research.
Drawn to the life in each elaborate page. Waller.
Syn. -- Labored; complicated; studied; perfected; high-wrought. -- E*lab"o*rate*ly, adv. -- E*lab"o*rate*ness, n.

imperfect & past participle Elaborated ; present participle & verbal noun Elaborating

To produce with labor
They in full joy elaborate a sigh, Young.
To perfect with painstaking; to improve or refine with labor and study, or by successive operations; as, to elaborate a painting or a literary work.
The sap is . . . still more elaborated and exalted as it circulates through the vessels of the plant. Arbuthnot.