Verb

(improv)

(lb) To make (something) better; to increase the value or productivity (of something).

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*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.}}

(lb) To become better.

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*:“My Continental prominence is improving ,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”

(lb) To disprove or make void; to refute.

*(William Tyndale) (1494-1536)

*:Neither can any of them make so strong a reason which another cannot improve .

(lb) To disapprove of; to find fault with; to reprove; to censure.

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:(Chapman)

*(William Tyndale) (1494-1536)

*:When he rehearsed his preachings and his doing unto the high apostles, they could improve nothing.

(lb) To use or employ to good purpose; to turn to profitable account.

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*(Isaac Barrow) (1630-1677)

*:We shall especially honour God by improving diligently the talents which God hath committed to us.

*(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)

*:a hint that I do not remember to have seen opened and improved

*(William Blackstone) (1723-1780)

*:The court seldom fails to improve the opportunity.

*(Isaac Watts) (1674-1748)

*:How doth the little busy bee / Improve each shining hour.

*(George Washington) (1732-1799)

*:True policy, as well as good faith, in my opinion, binds us to improve the occasion.

Verb

(en verb)

To give permission, power, or the legal right to do something.

* {{quote-book, year=1985, author=William H. Tench, title=Safety is no accident

, passage=Regulations have been made under the Civil Aviation Acts of 1949, 1980 and 1982 which empower Inspectors of Accidents to do these things.}}

To give someone more confidence and/or strength to do something, often by enabling them to increase their control over their own life or situation.

It's not enough to give women and minorities equal rights on paper; they need to be empowered to be able to make use of these rights.

John found that starting up his own business empowered him greatly in social situations.

* {{quote-book, year=1992, author=Nick Logan, title=The Face, page=11-130

, passage=Musically, what originally attracted me to dance was its shamanist aspects, using natural magic to change people's neurological states and to psychologically empower them.}}