1. year in school: a class or year in a school, especially in the U.S. and Canadian school systems She'll be in the tenth grade this year.
2. mark for quality of work: a mark given for work in school or college, usually using the descending scale of A, B, C, D, and F
3. level in scale of progression: a level, step, or stage in a scale of progression, quality, or size
(
often used in combination
)
low-grade gasoline
4. mark showing a level: a mark that indicates a level, step, or stage in a process
5. rank: a rank or class, e.g. in the military
6. people in rank: a group of people of the same rank
7. food classification: a category indicating the relative quality of food as determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture grade A eggs
8. gradient: a gradient or slope, especially on a road or railroad
9. construction ground level: the level at which the ground meets a building below-grade wiring
10. agriculture mixed offspring: an animal with one purebred parent and one of unknown breeding
11. phonetics vowel form: a form of vowel morpheme when a vowel varies owing to gradation
transitive verb (past and past participlegrad·ed, present participlegrad·ing, 3rd person present singulargrades)
Definition:
1. arrange things by degrees: to arrange or classify things or people according to rank, quality, or level
2. assign grade to something: to assign a mark or rating to something such as a student's work
3. make road level: to level a road or railroad by adjusting its gradients
4. agriculture improve a breed: to improve a breed by crossing with a purebred animal
[Early 16th century. Via French< Latin gradus "step, stage"]
make the grade to meet the required standard
Word History
The Latin word gradus "step," from which grade is derived, and its related verb gradi "to walk, go," are also the sources of English aggression, congress, degrade, degree, digress, gradient, gradual, ingredient, progress, retrograde, and transgress.
