primary social group; parents and children; "he wanted to have a good job before starting a family"
people descended from a common ancestor; "his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower"
a social unit living together; "he moved his family to Virginia"; "It was a good Christian household"; "I waited until the whole house was asleep"; "the teacher asked how many people made up his home"
(biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera; "sharks belong to the fish family"
an association of people who share common beliefs or activities; "the message was addressed not just to employees but to every member of the company family"; "the church welcomed new members into its fellowship"
something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows; "training is a necessary preliminary to employment"; "drinks were the overture to dinner"
a minor match preceding the main event
designed to orient or acquaint with a situation before proceeding; "a preliminary investigation"
act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining; "he congratulated them on their development of a plan to meet the emergency"; "they funded research and development"
(music) the section of a composition or movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes are developed and elaborated
a recent event that has some relevance for the present situation; "recent developments in Iraq"; "what a revolting development!"
a district that has been developed to serve some purpose; "such land is practical for small park developments"
processing a photosensitive material in order to make an image visible; "the development and printing of his pictures took only two hours"
a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage); "the development of his ideas took many years"; "the evolution of Greek civilization"; "the slow development of her skill as a writer"
a state in which things are improving; the result of developing (as in the early part of a game of chess); "after he saw the latest development he changed his mind and became a supporter"; "in chess your should take care of your development before moving your queen"
the act or process of drawing up plans or layouts for some project or enterprise
an act of formulating a program for a definite course of action; "the planning was more fun than the trip itself"
the cognitive process of thinking about what you will do in the event of something happening; "his planning for retirement was hindered by several uncertainties"
the act of reconnoitring (especially to gain information about an enemy or potential enemy); "an exchange of fire occurred on a reconnaissance mission"
the amount of activity over a communication system during a given period of time; "heavy traffic overloaded the trunk lines"; "traffic on the internet is lightest during the night"
the aggregation of things (pedestrians or vehicles) coming and going in a particular locality during a specified period of time
trade or deal a commodity; "They trafficked with us for gold"
(ecology) a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other
a group of people living in a particular local area; "the team is drawn from all parts of the community"
a group of people having ethnic or cultural or religious characteristics in common; "the Christian community of the apostolic age"; "he was well known throughout the Catholic community"
a group of nations having common interests; "they hoped to join the NATO community"
common ownership; "they shared a community of possessions"
agreement as to goals; "the preachers and the bootleggers found they had a community of interests"