The noun development has 9 senses (first 8 from tagged texts)
1. (455) development -- (act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining; "he congratulated them on their development of a plan to meet the emergency"; "they funded research and development")
2. (175) development, evolution -- (a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage); "the development of his ideas took many years"; "the evolution of Greek civilization"; "the slow development of her skill as a writer")
3. (89) development -- (a recent event that has some relevance for the present situation; "recent developments in Iraq"; "what a revolting development!")
4. (84) exploitation, development -- (the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful; "the development of Alaskan resources"; "the exploitation of copper deposits")
5. (54) development -- (a district that has been developed to serve some purpose; "such land is practical for small park developments")
6. (49) development -- (a state in which things are improving; the result of developing (as in the early part of a game of chess); "after he saw the latest development he changed his mind and became a supporter"; "in chess your should take care of your development before moving your queen")
7. (39) growth, growing, maturation, development, ontogeny, ontogenesis -- ((biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level; "he proposed an indicator of osseous development in children")
8. (1) development, developing -- (processing a photosensitive material in order to make an image visible; "the development and printing of his pictures took only two hours")
9. development -- ((music) the section of a composition or movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes are developed and elaborated)