improve the occasion

present singular third person improves the occasion · participle present improving the occasion · participle past improved the occasion · past improved the occasion

1. idiomaticTo point out a moral to be learned from some event that has just occurred.

   Then he improved the occasion to give young Finland a lecture upon the impropriety of marrying for money.

   1880, The Penn Monthly, volume 11, page 784

2. obsoleteslangTo celebrate with food or drink.

   I told Jos. of my intentions, and he improved the occasion by eating four or five meals, and drinking at least a gallon of beer and a bottle of gin at my expense.

   1868, Malcolm Ronald Laing Meason, Turf Frauds and Turf Practices; or, Spiders and Flies, page 24