upgraded; upgrading; upgrades
: to raise or improve the grade of: such as
a
: to improve (livestock) by use of purebred sires
b
: to advance to a job requiring a higher level of skill especially as part of a training program
c
: to raise the quality of
d
: to raise the classification and usually the price of without improving the quality
e
: to extend the usefulness of (something, such as a device)
f
: to assign a less serious status to
upgraded the patient's condition to good
: to replace something (such as software or an electronic device) with a more useful version or alternative
Upgrading to a new operating system can make people anxious, even under the best of circumstances.—
Macworld
MacworldExamples of upgrade in a Sentence
Noun
a slight upgrade in the roadway
The hotel offered us a room upgrade.
Verb
This course will help you to upgrade your computer skills.
They've upgraded the quality of their service.
The city is upgrading the sewage treatment plant.
The office is upgrading the telephone system.
They upgraded the hotel to attract more business patrons.
We were able to upgrade to first class.
We had reserved a double room, but the hotel upgraded us to a suite.
Recent Examples on the Web
N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Thereby enabling the Town Managers to correlate presents needs of new residency to Town Capital Improvement Projects upgrades.
—Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 29 Oct. 2025
Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 28 Oct. 2025
Although Freestyle Fellowship upgraded their production and pushed themselves further lyrically on the follow-up, Innercity Griots, that 1993 album would be their last during their original run, as the group went on hiatus when Self Jupiter was incarcerated.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for upgrade
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Noun
The Louvre's president and director admitted that the museum's cameras failed to spot the burglars and pledged to make security upgrades to the centuries-old building.
—N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Thereby enabling the Town Managers to correlate presents needs of new residency to Town Capital Improvement Projects upgrades.
—Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
Police said officers were dispatched and arrived within two minutes of the 911 call — first reported as a suspicious event and later upgraded to a burglary in progress — and that the Criminal Investigations Bureau dedicated more than 100 investigative hours to identifying those involved.
—Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 28 Oct. 2025
Although Freestyle Fellowship upgraded their production and pushed themselves further lyrically on the follow-up, Innercity Griots, that 1993 album would be their last during their original run, as the group went on hiatus when Self Jupiter was incarcerated.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for upgrade
Cite this Entry
“Upgrade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upgrade. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
upgrade
1 of 2 noun
up·grade
ˈəp-ˌgrād 
1
: an upward grade or slope
2
: rise entry 2 sense 4
crime has been on the upgrade
1
: to raise to a higher grade or position
2
: to improve or replace especially software or a device for increased usefulness
Medical Definition
upgrade
transitive verb
up·grade
ˈəp-ˌgrād, ˌəp-ˈ
upgraded; upgrading
1
: to assign a less serious status to
upgraded the patient's condition from fair to good
2
: to reclassify (as a cancer, concussion, or bone fracture) to a more serious grade when the grades are numbered from least to most serious
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