upgrade */

I UK [ʌpˈɡreɪd] / US [ˈʌpˌɡreɪd] verb
Word forms "upgrade":
present tense I/you/we/they upgrade he/she/it upgrades present participle upgrading past tense upgraded past participle upgraded

1)

a) [intransitive/transitive] to make a computer or other machine more powerful or effective

The system has been upgraded to meet customers' needs.

upgrade to:

You'll need to upgrade to 512Mb RAM to run these programs.

upgrade from:

Existing users can upgrade from the previous version free of charge.

b) [transitive] to improve the quality of a service or product

£1.5 million is being spent on upgrading security procedures.

2)

a) [transitive] to officially give someone or something a higher status

Four of the five regions have now been upgraded to republics.

b) tourism to give people a better seat on a plane, or a better hotel room, than the one that they have paid for

II UK [ˈʌpˌɡreɪd] / US noun [countable]
Word forms "upgrade":
singular upgrade plural upgrades

1)

a) computing a piece of equipment or software designed to make a computer more powerful

hardware upgrades

b) the process of upgrading a computer

2) tourism the fact of being given a plane seat or hotel room that is better than the one that you have paid for