From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishupgradeup‧grade /ʌpˈɡreɪd/ ●●○ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]TDIMPROVE to make a computer, machine, or piece of software better and able to do more thingsupgrade (something) to something You’ll need to upgrade your hard drive to 120Mb before running this software.2 [transitive] to improve something and make it more modern, especially in order to provide a better service The hotel has recently been refurbished and upgraded.3 [intransitive, transitive]TTA to give someone a better seat on a plane or a better room in a hotel than the one they paid forupgrade (somebody) to something We can upgrade you to business class.4 [transitive]BEC to give someone a more important job5 [transitive] to change the official description of something to make it seem better or more important OPP downgradeupgrade something to something Four of the regions were upgraded to the status of republic.6 → upgrade your skills —upgrade /ˈʌpɡreɪd/ noun [countable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
upgrade• It was decided that the entire computer system should be upgraded.• The women demanded that their work be upgraded.• So will I have to upgrade by replacement in order to make use of the software I have at the moment?• The Game Boy Advance, with upgraded graphics and sound, is due June 11.• This year, the United States upgraded its disease surveillance system to detect any early outbreak of infection.• The city has recently spent $3 million on upgrading its sports stadium.• Since July, the airport has upgraded security measures, at a cost of $560,000.• It was decided therefore, to make a start upon upgrading the existing fleet by adopting improved technology wherever possible.• Users of Labtam's existing i960-based 300 series can upgrade to Open Terminals.• After the inspector's visit all temporary workers were upgraded to permanent status.• All can be upgraded using Intel's clock-doubling OverDrive technology which is soon to offer an upgrade path to Pentium standard performance.From Longman Business Dictionaryupgradeup‧grade1 /ˌʌpˈgreɪd/ verb1[intransitive, transitive]COMPUTINGMANUFACTURING to make a computer, machine, program etc better and able to do more thingsThere are several things to consider when it comes to upgrading computer memory.upgrade toYou can upgrade to the latest version of the software by following these steps.2[intransitive, transitive]COMPUTING to buy a new computer, machine etc that is better and able to do more things than your old oneThe money will be used to upgrade machinery and trucks.upgrade toIn order to grow your business, you may need to upgrade to a more powerful system.3[intransitive, transitive]TRAVEL to get a better seat on a plane, a better rented car etc than the one you paid forupgrade toYou can use your frequent flier mileage to upgrade to business class.4[transitive]FINANCE to put something in a better class or at a higher level on a scale than beforeThey have upgraded their profit forecast from £1.49 billion to £1.56 billion.→ See Verb tableupgradeup‧grade2 /ˈʌpgreɪd/ noun [countable]1the act of improving a product or service, or one that has been improvedWithin two years, the company expects to complete a $110 million upgrade of its cable system.2 (also upgrade program)COMPUTING new computer software that replaces previous software of the same typeupgrade toThree-quarters of the firm’s overall software revenues will eventually be generated by selling upgrades to existing customers.3TRAVELan occasion when someone is given a better seat on a plane, or a better rented car, than the one they paid forIf you’re lucky you might get an upgrade. 