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Improve vs Support - What's the difference?

improve | support |

In transitive terms the difference between improve and support

is that improve is to make (something) better; to increase the value or productivity (of something) while support is to be accountable for, or involved with, but not responsible for.

As a noun support is

something which supports. Often used attributively, as a complement or supplement to.

improve

English

Alternative forms

* emprove (obsolete)

Verb

(improv)
  • (lb) To make (something) better; to increase the value or productivity (of something).
  • :
  • :
  • *{{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.
  • :
  • :
  • *
  • *:“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.
  • :
  • :(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.
  • :
  • *(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.
  • Synonyms

    * (to make something better) ameliorate, better, batten, enhance * See also

    Antonyms

    * (to make something worse) deteriorate, worsen * (to become worse) deteriorate, worsen

    Derived terms

    * improvement

    support

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something which supports. Often used attributively, as a complement or supplement to.
  • Don't move that beam! It's a support for the whole platform.
  • Financial or other help.
  • The government provides support to the arts in several ways.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=December 19 , author=Kerry Brown , title=Kim Jong-il obituary , work=The Guardian citation , page= , passage=Kim was educated at the newly founded university in Pyongyang, named after his father, graduating in 1964. The 1960s and early 1970s were the golden years for the DPRK. It undertook rapid industrialisation, economically outstripped its southern competitor, and enjoyed the support of both the People's Republic of China, and the Soviet Union.}}
  • Answers to questions and resolution of problems regarding something sold.
  • Sure they sell the product, but do they provide support ?
  • (mathematics) in relation to a function, the set of points where the function is not zero, or the closure of that set.
  • * 2004 , Amara Graps, An Introduction to Wavelets''] — [http://www.amara.com/IEEEwave/IW_history.html ''Historical Perspective
  • The first mention of wavelets appeared in an appendix to the thesis of A. Haar (1909). One property of the Haar wavelet is that it has compact support, which means that it vanishes outside of a finite interval. Unfortunately, Haar wavelets are not continuously differentiable which somewhat limits their applications.
  • (fuzzy set theory) A set whose elements are at least partially included in a given fuzzy set (i.e., whose grade of membership in that fuzzy set is strictly greater than zero).
  • If the membership function of a fuzzy set is continuous, then that fuzzy set's support is an open set.

    Antonyms

    * (mathematics) kernel

    Derived terms

    * moral support * combat support (military) * support group

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (senseid)To keep from falling.
  • Don’t move that beam! It supports the whole platform.
  • To answer questions and resolve problems regarding something sold.
  • Sure they sell the product, but do they support it?
  • To back a cause, party etc. mentally or with concrete aid.
  • I support France in the World Cup
  • To help, particularly financially.
  • The government supports the arts in several ways.
  • To verify; to make good; to substantiate; to establish; to sustain.
  • The testimony is not sufficient to support the charges.
    The evidence will not support the statements or allegations.
  • * J. Edwards
  • to urge such arguments, as though they were sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy
  • To serve, as in a customer-oriented mindset; to give support to.
  • The IT Department supports the research organization, but not the sales force.
    I don't make decisions: I just support those who do.
  • To be accountable for, or involved with, but not responsible for.
  • I support the administrative activities of the executive branch of the organization
  • (archaic) To endure without being overcome; bear; undergo; to tolerate.
  • * Dryden
  • This fierce demeanour and his insolence / The patience of a god could not support .
  • * 1881 , :
  • For a strong affection such moments are worth supporting , and they will end well; for your advocate is in your lover's heart and speaks her own language
  • To assume and carry successfully, as the part of an actor; to represent or act; to sustain.
  • to support the character of King Lear

    Antonyms

    * oppose

    Derived terms

    * supportable * supported * supportive

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----