From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishelaboratee‧lab‧o‧rate1 /ɪˈlæbərət/ ●●○ adjective 1 COMPLICATEDhaving a lot of small parts or details put together in a complicated way SYN intricate pure silks embroidered with elaborate patterns► see thesaurus at complicated2 carefully planned and organized in great detail SYN complex a very elaborate telecommunications network —elaborately adverb an elaborately carved wooden statue
Examples from the Corpus
elaborate• The propagation of Aponogeton from seeds is elaborate and slow and requires special tanks without fish.• Cho and Lee celebrated their new partnership at an elaborate banquet.• The diaries have been published in one volume, with elaborate biographical notes by Professor Emson.• The interior is more elaborate, but has also been more altered in later ages.• Nick examined the elaborate carvings on the tomb.• Seven ruff, without as yet their elaborate courtship adornments, fed at the northern tip of a tyke.• The lawyer had concocted an elaborate defence that gave a totally false impression of what happened.• Police said they were elaborate devices, of similar construction, designed to give the impression they were bombs.• She had prepared an elaborate excuse for her absence.• Elaborate murals had been painted on three of the four walls.• Simple simulations can be as effective for training purposes as more elaborate ones and can certainly be more cost effective.• But Frank Bascombe, for all his hapless domestic incompetence and elaborate self-pity, was interesting and kind of likable.• He did not typically employ elaborate statistics to test hypotheses or use control groups in his research.• Mike had worked out an elaborate system for categorizing his collection of CDs.• an elaborate tattoo of an eagle• Sociologists have been coming up with increasingly elaborate theories to explain unsafe sexual practices.• After our return to Wichita, the master worked out an elaborate tour, with a record number of weekly performances.elaboratee‧lab‧o‧rate2 /ɪˈlæbəreɪt/ verb [intransitive, transitive]DETAIL to give more details or new information about something SYN enlarge He said he had new evidence, but refused to elaborate any further.elaborate on McDonald refused to elaborate on his reasons for resigning. —elaboration /ɪˌlæbəˈreɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable]→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
elaborate• What exactly do you mean by "traditional education"? Would you care to elaborate?• I say, and wait for him to elaborate.• These could include tapping the Federal Financing Bank or a $ 40 billion currency stabilization fund, though Rubin declined to elaborate.• I suppose you wouldn't care to elaborate further?• This approach is elaborated in Chapter 5.• This simple story line was elaborated in the works of Hesiod, Aeschylus, Lucian, Ovid, and others.• This argument will be elaborated more fully in the next chapter.• The process can, of course, be elaborated, on the basis of a suitably detailed marketing strategy.• I would like now to elaborate upon the points raised in my introduction.elaborate on• Lally refused to elaborate on her earlier statement.Origin elaborate1 (1400-1500) Latin elaboratus, past participle of elaborare “to work out” 