Noun

(en noun)

The act of improving]]; advancement or growth; [[promote, promotion in desirable qualities; progress toward what is better; melioration; as, the improvement of the mind, of land, roads, etc.

* (Robert South)

I look upon your city as the best place of improvement .

* (Hugh Blair)

Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all our faculties.

* , chapter=19

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.}}

* {{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.

The act of making profitable use or application of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; a turning to good account; practical application, as of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse.

* (Samuel Clarke)

A good improvement of his reason.

* (John Tillotson)

I shall make some improvement of this doctrine.

The state of being improved; betterment; advance; also, that which is improved; as, the new edition is an improvement on the old.

* (Joseph Addison)

The parts of Sinon, Camilla, and some few others, are improvements on the Greek poet.

Increase; growth; progress; advance.

* (Joseph Addison)

There is a design of publishing the history of architecture, with its several improvements and decays.

* (Robert South)

Those vices which more particularly receive improvement by prosperity.

(plural): Valuable additions or betterments, as buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.

(Patent Laws): A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.

Noun

(en noun)

(lb) Benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success.

*:

*:I shal take the aduenture sayd Balen that god wille ordeyne me / but the swerd ye shalle not haue at this tyme by the feythe of my body / ye shalle repente hit within short tyme sayd the damoysel/ For I wold haue the swerd more for your auaylle than for myne / for I am passyng heuy for your sake

*, III.1:

*:hardy Citizenssticke not to sacrifice their honours and consciences, as those of old, their lives, for their Countries availe and safety.

*{{quote-book, 1895, (Andrew Lang), A Monk of Fife

, passage=So this friar, unworthy as he was of his holy calling, had me at an avail on every side, nor do I yet see what I could do but obey him, as I did.}}

Effect in achieving a goal or aim; purpose, use (now usually in negative constructions).

:

*

*:Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.

*2014 , , " Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter", The Guardian , 18 October:

*:At half-time, Poyet replaced Wes Brown with Liam Bridcutt in the heart of defence and sent out the rest of the players to atone for their first-half mistakes. To no avail .

*(Richard Henry Stoddard) (1825–1903)

*:the avails of their own industry

Effort; striving.

*{{quote-book, 1613, (Thomas Campion), chapter=Songs of Mourning, , year_published=1907, page=125, title= Poetical Works (in English) of Thomas Campion

, passage=And ev'n now, though he breathless lies, his sails / Are struggling with the winds, for our avails / T'explore a passage hid from human tract, / Will fame him in the enterprise or fact.}}

An advertising slot or package.

*{{quote-book, 1994, Barry L. Sherman, page=353, title= Telecommunications Management: Broadcasting/cable and the New Technologies, isbn=0070566984

, passage=The salesperson at an affiliate TV station might prepare an avail which offers two weeks of spots in early and late news

*{{quote-book, 2004, Walter S. Ciciora et al., page=123, title= Modern Cable Television Technology: Video, Voice, and Data Communications, isbn=1558608281

, passage=At an avail , the ad server plays out the MPEG-2 audio/video elementary streams.}}

A press avail.

:

Non-binding notice of availability for work.

(lb) A readily available stock of oil.

*{{quote-book, 1967, title= Interstate Compact on Oil and Gas (10th Extension), page=95

, passage=Total crude oil avails (production plus purchases) of even highly "self-sufficient" refiners are far greater than their reported refinery inputs.}}