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View synonyms for grade

grade

1

[ greyd ]

noun

  1. a degree or step in a scale, as of rank, advancement, quality, value, or intensity:

    the best grade of paper.

  2. a class of persons or things of the same relative rank, quality, etc.
  3. a step or stage in a course or process.
  4. a single division of a school classified according to the age or progress of the pupils. In the U.S., public schools are commonly divided into twelve grades below college.
  5. the pupils in such a division.
  6. (the) grades. elementary school:

    He first began teaching in the grades.

  7. a letter, number, or other symbol indicating the relative quality of a student's work in a course, examination, or special assignment; mark.
  8. a classification or standard of food based on quality, size, etc.:

    grade A milk.

  9. inclination with the horizontal of a road, railroad, etc., usually expressed by stating the vertical rise or fall as a percentage of the horizontal distance; slope.
  10. Building Trades. Also called grade line. the level at which the ground intersects the foundation of a building.
  11. an animal resulting from a cross between a parent of ordinary stock and one of a pure breed.
  12. Mathematics. grad 2.


verb (used with object)

, grad·ed, grad·ing.
  1. to arrange in a series of grades; class; sort:

    a machine that grades two thousand eggs per hour.

    Synonyms: categorize, order, rate, rank, classify

  2. to determine the grade of.
  3. to assign a grade to (a student's work); mark:

    I graded forty tests last night.

  4. to cause to pass by degrees, as from one color or shade to another.
  5. to reduce to a level or to practicable degrees of inclination:

    to grade a road.

  6. to cross (an ordinary or low-grade animal) with an animal of a pure or superior breed.

verb (used without object)

, grad·ed, grad·ing.
  1. to incline; slant or slope:

    The road grades steeply for a mile.

  2. to be of a particular grade or quality.
  3. to pass by degrees from one color or shade to another; blend:

    See how the various colors grade into one another.

verb phrase

  1. to improve (a herd, flock, etc.) by breeding with purebreds.

-grade

2
  1. a combining form meaning “walking, moving,” in the manner or by the means specified by the initial element:

    plantigrade.

grade

1

/ ɡreɪd /

noun

  1. a position or degree in a scale, as of quality, rank, size, or progression

    high-grade timber

    small-grade eggs

  2. a group of people or things of the same category
  3. a military or other rank
  4. a stage in a course of progression
  5. a mark or rating indicating achievement or the worth of work done, as at school
  6. a unit of pupils of similar age or ability taught together at school
    1. a part of a railway, road, etc, that slopes upwards or downwards; inclination
    2. Also calledgradient a measure of such a slope, esp the ratio of the vertical distance between two points on the slope to the horizontal distance between them
  7. a unit of angle equal to one hundredth of a right angle or 0.9 degree
  8. stockbreeding
    1. an animal with one purebred parent and one of unknown or unimproved breeding
    2. ( as modifier ) Compare crossbred purebred

      a grade sheep

  9. linguistics one of the forms of the vowel in a morpheme when this vowel varies because of gradation
  10. at grade
    1. on the same level
    2. (of a river profile or land surface) at an equilibrium level and slope, because there is a balance between erosion and deposition
  11. make the grade informal.
    1. to reach the required standard
    2. to succeed
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. tr to arrange according to quality, rank, etc
  2. tr to determine the grade of or assign a grade to
  3. intr to achieve or deserve a grade or rank
  4. to change or blend (something) gradually; merge
  5. tr to level (ground, a road, etc) to a suitable gradient
  6. tr stockbreeding to cross (one animal) with another to produce a grade animal
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

-grade

2

combining form

  1. indicating a kind or manner of movement or progression

    retrograde

    plantigrade

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

grade

/ grād /

  1. The degree of inclination of a slope, road, or other surface.
  2. A grouping of organisms done purely on the basis of shared features and without regard to evolutionary relationships. Grades may include organisms that do not share a common ancestor, or may exclude some organisms having the same common ancestor as the other organisms in the grade. For this reason, many taxonomists do not accept grades as formal classifications. The class Reptilia (reptiles) is a grade since it includes dinosaurs but not birds, even though birds are descended from dinosaurs.
  3. Compare clade
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Other Words From

  • mis·grade verb misgraded misgrading
  • mis·grad·ed adjective
  • mul·ti·grade adjective
  • o·ver·grade verb (used with object) overgraded overgrading
  • pre·grade verb (used with object) pregraded pregrading noun
  • re·grade verb (used with object) regraded regrading
  • un·grad·ed adjective
  • well-grad·ed adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of grade1

First recorded in 1505–15; from French: “office,” from Latin gradus “step, stage, degree,” derivative of gradī “to go, step, walk”

Origin of grade2

< Latin -gradus, combining form representing gradus step or gradī to walk. See grade, gradient
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Word History and Origins

Origin of grade1

C16: from French, from Latin gradus step, from gradī to step

Origin of grade2

via French from Latin -gradus, from gradus a step, from gradī to walk
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. at grade,
    1. on the same level:

      A railroad crosses a highway at grade.

    2. (of a stream bed) so adjusted to conditions of slope and the volume and speed of water that no gain or loss of sediment takes place.
  2. make the grade, to attain a specific goal; succeed:

    He'll never make the grade in medical school.

  3. up to grade, of the desired or required quality:

    This shipment is not up to grade.

More idioms and phrases containing grade

see make the grade .
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Example Sentences

In an eight-to-seven vote on Tuesday, the board approved the state-written “Bluebonnet” curriculum, which infuses Bible stories into language arts materials for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

From Salon

In an interview, Principal Kristine Puich described strategies that included aligning conference periods by grade level and topic so teachers could plan together and compare results.

According to 67% of those surveyed, playing sports even leads to better grades in school.

Her sister is in eighth grade and her brother is in sixth grade.

I think of teachers like my 10th grade social studies teacher Mrs. Tarter.

From Salon

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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