The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Elaboration \E*lab`o*ra"tion\, n. [L. elaboratio: cf. F.
   ['e]laboration.]
   1. The act or process of producing or refining with labor;
      improvement by successive operations; refinement.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Physiol.) The natural process of formation or
      assimilation, performed by the living organs in animals
      and vegetables, by which a crude substance is changed into
      something of a higher order; as, the elaboration of food
      into chyme; the elaboration of chyle, or sap, or tissues.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

elaboration
    n 1: addition of extra material or illustration or clarifying
         detail; "a few remarks added in amplification and defense";
         "an elaboration of the sketch followed" [syn:
         amplification, elaboration]
    2: the result of improving something; "he described a refinement
       of this technique" [syn: refinement, elaboration]
    3: a discussion that provides additional information [syn:
       expansion, enlargement, elaboration]
    4: marked by elaborately complex detail [syn: elaborateness,
       elaboration, intricacy, involution]
    5: developing in intricate and painstaking detail [syn:
       elaboration, working out]