upgrade
part of speech
verb (upgrade, upgrades, upgraded, upgrading); noun (an upgrade, upgrades)
meaning for a pupil
1) To upgrade something means to make it better, newer or more powerful, like upgrading a computer or a phone. tree →
2) An upgrade is a better or newer version, or the change that makes it better. tree →
3) To be upgraded on a plane or in a hotel means to be moved to a better seat or room. tree →
4) To upgrade a storm or warning means to raise its level. tree →
sense in the lessons
In computing lessons and games, you install upgrades and updates; in games, you upgrade your character or tools. In everyday life, families upgrade phones and kitchens; weather reports upgrade storms to hurricanes. Phrases: «upgrade to», «a free upgrade», «software upgrade».
examples
- Dad upgraded the laptop so it runs faster. tree →
- In the game, you can upgrade your sword with gold coins. tree →
- We got a free upgrade to a bigger hotel room. tree →
- The storm was upgraded to a hurricane. tree →
- The school is upgrading the playground with new climbing frames. tree →
- The new phone is a big upgrade on my old one. tree →
- The upgrade cost £50. tree →
note
Verb stress: up-GRADE; noun stress: UP-grade. Regular: upgraded. Opposite: downgrade. «Upgrade» (a better version) and «update» (latest changes or news) overlap but are not the same. In money problems, an upgrade usually adds to the cost: basic £100 + upgrade £30 = £130.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «upgrade» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.