progress

Formsprogresses, progressing, progressed

1. 1
   developmentnoununcountable

   Advancement to a higher or more developed state; growth and development over time.

   The nation's economic progress lifted millions of people out of poverty.

   Scientific progress has transformed how we treat disease.

   UsageThe usual verb is make: make good progress. It rarely takes a: some progress (not incorrect: a progress).

   Similaradvancement, development, advance, growth, improvement

   Oppositeregression, decline, deterioration, stagnation

   Note

   Here the word carries a judgment: change counts as progress only when it is change for the better. Gene Wolfe's The Citadel of the Autarch (1983) turns the value on its head, picturing a people who have progress and are "deafened by it."

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The advance of something through a sequence of events or stages, or its development as time goes on.

   The novel charts the slow progress of a friendship over twenty years.

   Engineers monitored the progress of the experiment from one stage to the next.

   UsageOften in in progress (begun but not finished): work in progress, a game in progress.

   Similardevelopment, progression, evolution, course

3. 3
   move forwardverbintransitive

   To go forward or move on, from one place, step or stage to the next, as when a queue moves along or a team goes through to the next round.

   The discussion progressed from small details to the larger plan.

   Crews progress along the tunnel a few meters each day.

   UsageOften with to or through: progress to the next round, progress through the stages.

   Similarproceed, advance, move, go (entry)

   Oppositeretreat

   Note

   The verb was made from the noun, then largely fell out of British use in the 17th century while it lived on in American English. When it came back into British English, it was taken for an Americanism. In Tom Fordyce's 2011 BBC Sport report on England and Scotland, a team hopes to progress to the knock-out stages.

4. 4
   verbintransitive

   Of something such as an illness, a story or a situation: to develop or unfold over time, changing as it goes on.

   The illness progressed through several distinct stages.

   Plot lines progress as the series unfolds.

   Similardevelop, advance, evolve, unfold

5. 5
   noununcountable

   Movement forward or onward, toward a place or goal.

   The army's progress through the valley was halted by the swollen river.

   Rescue crews reported slow progress reaching the stranded village.

6. 6
   verbintransitive

   To improve or get better over time, as a person, a skill, or a condition does.

   Her Spanish began to progress quickly once she spent a summer living with a host family.

   Students who practice every day tend to progress faster than those who cram.

   Similarimprove

   Oppositedeteriorate, worsen, regress, decline

   Note

   An extension of the plain "develop" verb that adds a judgment: the change is for the better. That makes it the verb's counterpart to the noun of improvement. Because the two verb meanings share the same intransitive construction, context has to decide. An adverb like well usually tips the balance toward improvement.

7. 7
   push alongverbtransitive

   To move a task, plan, or process forward; to push it along toward completion.

   The committee agreed to progress the proposal to the next round.

   She progressed the paperwork so the sale could close on time.

   UsageMostly office language: progress a request, progress the paperwork. In everyday speech, people say move it forward.

   Similaradvance, expedite, further

   Oppositedelay, stall

   Note

   You progress a matter or a proposal, pushing it toward completion rather than moving forward yourself. Thomas Penn's Winter King (2011) uses it of people who came "to progress matters" in which Dudley had a hand and left defrauded.

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