reform

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To improve by alteration, correction of error, or removal of defects; put into a better form or condition.
2. v. To abolish abuse or malpractice in: reform the government.
3. v. To put an end to (a wrong). See Synonyms at correct.
4. v. To cause (a person) to give up harmful or immoral practices; persuade to adopt a better way of life.
5. v. To change for the better.
6. n. A change for the better; an improvement.
7. n. Correction of evils, abuses, or errors.
8. n. Action to improve social or economic conditions without radical or revolutionary change.
9. adj. Relating to or favoring reform: a reform candidate for mayor.
10. adj. Of or relating to Reform Judaism.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To form again or anew; remake; reconstruct; renew.
2. To restore to the natural or regular order or arrangement: as, to reform broken or scattered troops.
3. To restore to a former and better state, or to bring from a bad to a good state; change from worse to better; improve by alteration, rearrangement, reconstruction, or abolition of defective parts or imperfect conditions, or by substitution of something better; amend; correct: as, to reform, a profligate man; to reform corrupt manners of morals; to reform the corrupt orthography of English or French.
4. To abandon, remove, or abolish for something better.
5. To mend, in a physical sense; repair.
6. To correct.
7. Synonyms Improve, Better, etc. (see amend), repair, reclaim, remodel.
8. To form again; get into order or line again; resume order, as troops or a procession.
9. To abandon that which is evil or corrupt and return to that which is good; change from worse to better; be amended or redeemed.
10. n. Any proceeding which either brings back a better order of things or reconstructs the present order to advantage; amendment of what is defective, vicious, depraved, or corrupt; a change from worse to better; reformation: as, to introduce reforms in sanitary matters; to be an advocate of reform.
11. n. Synonyms Amendment, etc. See reformation.

Wiktionary

1. n. Amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved; reformation; as, reform of elections; reform of government.
2. v. To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good; to change from worse to better; to amend; to correct; as, to reform a profligate man; to reform corrupt manners or morals.
3. v. To return to a good state; to amend or correct one's own character or habits; as, a person of settled habits of vice will seldom reform.
4. v. transitive, intransitive To form again or in a new configuration.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good; to change from worse to better; to amend; to correct
2. v. To return to a good state; to amend or correct one's own character or habits.
3. n. Amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved; reformation.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a campaign aimed to correct abuses or malpractices
2. n. self-improvement in behavior or morals by abandoning some vice
3. v. improve by alteration or correction of errors or defects and put into a better condition
4. v. bring, lead, or force to abandon a wrong or evil course of life, conduct, and adopt a right one
5. v. break up the molecules of
6. v. change for the better
7. v. produce by cracking
8. n. a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses
9. v. make changes for improvement in order to remove abuse and injustices