IMPROVISE • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Improvise

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/ˈɪmprəvˌaɪz/ /ˌɪmprəvˈaɪz/ Listen

verb

Improvise v. t. (past & past part. improvised; pres. part. improvising)

To compose, recite, or sing extemporaneously, especially in verse; to extemporize; also, to play upon an instrument, or to act, extemporaneously.

To bring about, arrange, do, or make, immediately or on short notice, without previous preparation and with no known precedent as a guide. "Charles attempted to improvise a peace."

To invent, or provide, offhand, or on the spur of the moment; as, he improvised a hammer out of a stone.

Improvise v. i. To produce or render extemporaneous compositions, especially in verse or in music, without previous preparation; hence, to do anything offhand.

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Etymology of 'Improvise'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Improvise" Quotes from Famous Books

... who are descended from the ancient sultans, the women are given the title Timanokalin, "royal women," on account of their beauty and their talent in the art of music. They often give concerts, to which the men come "from long distances—decked out like male ostriches." In these concerts the women improvise the songs, accompanying themselves on the tambourine and a sort of violin or rebaza. They are much sought after in marriage, because of the title of cherif which they confer on ...

— The Position of Woman in Primitive Society - A Study of the Matriarchy • C. Gasquoine Hartley

... "I see,—you can improvise," said the manager, quite pleased, "and I've no objection when it's well done like that; but you'd better go on now, and stick to ...

— Dusty Diamonds Cut and Polished - A Tale of City Arab Life and Adventure • R.M. Ballantyne

... George, don't improvise. It looks too egotistical. It will provoke remark. Just stick to 'Coronation,' like the others. It is a good tune—you can't improve it any, just off-hand, ...

— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... part of it." Maggie went, she went—she felt herself going; she reminded herself of an actress who had been studying a part and rehearsing it, but who suddenly, on the stage, before the footlights, had begun to improvise, to speak lines not in the text. It was this very sense of the stage and the footlights that kept her up, made her rise higher: just as it was the sense of action that logically involved some platform—action ...

— The Golden Bowl • Henry James

... the occasion. Selden evinced an extraordinary interest in her household arrangements: complimented her on the ingenuity with which she had utilized every inch of her small quarters, asked how her servant managed about afternoons out, learned that one may improvise delicious dinners in a chafing-dish, and uttered thoughtful generalizations on the burden ...

— House of Mirth • Edith Wharton

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