a degree or step in a scale, as of rank, advancement, quality, value, or intensity.
the best grade of paper.
a class of persons or things of the same relative rank, quality, etc.
a step or stage in a course or process.
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.
the pupils in such a division.
(the) grades. elementary school.
He first began teaching in the grades.
a letter, number, or other symbol indicating the relative quality of a student's work in a course, examination, or special assignment; mark.
a classification or standard of food based on quality, size, etc..
grade A milk.
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.
Also called grade line. Building Trades. the level at which the ground intersects the foundation of a building.
an animal resulting from a cross between a parent of ordinary stock and one of a pure breed.
Mathematics. grad.
to arrange in a series of grades; class; sort.
a machine that grades two thousand eggs per hour.
to determine the grade of.
to assign a grade to (a student's work); mark.
I graded forty tests last night.
to cause to pass by degrees, as from one color or shade to another.
to reduce to a level or to practicable degrees of inclination.
to grade a road.
to cross (an ordinary or low-grade animal) with an animal of a pure or superior breed.
to incline; slant or slope.
The road grades steeply for a mile.
to be of a particular grade or quality.
to pass by degrees from one color or shade to another; blend.
See how the various colors grade into one another.
up to grade, of the desired or required quality.
This shipment is not up to grade.
at grade,
on the same level.
A railroad crosses a highway at grade.
(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.
make the grade, to attain a specific goal; succeed.
He'll never make the grade in medical school.
a position or degree in a scale, as of quality, rank, size, or progression
small-grade eggs
high-grade timber
a group of people or things of the same category
a military or other rank
a stage in a course of progression
a mark or rating indicating achievement or the worth of work done, as at school
a unit of pupils of similar age or ability taught together at school
a part of a railway, road, etc, that slopes upwards or downwards; inclination
Also called: gradient. 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
a unit of angle equal to one hundredth of a right angle or 0.9 degree
stockbreeding
linguistics one of the forms of the vowel in a morpheme when this vowel varies because of gradation
on the same level
(of a river profile or land surface) at an equilibrium level and slope, because there is a balance between erosion and deposition
informal
to reach the required standard
to succeed
(tr) to arrange according to quality, rank, etc
(tr) to determine the grade of or assign a grade to
(intr) to achieve or deserve a grade or rank
to change or blend (something) gradually; merge
(tr) to level (ground, a road, etc) to a suitable gradient
(tr) stockbreeding to cross (one animal) with another to produce a grade animal
The degree of inclination of a slope, road, or other surface.
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.
Compare clade
What does -grade mean? The combining form -grade is used like a suffix meaning “walking; moving.” It is very occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology. The form -grade comes from Latin gradus, meaning “step,” or Latin gradī, meaning "to walk." These two Latin sources are the root of numerous words in English, from aggressive, degree, and grade to graduate, ingredient, and progress. Check out our entries for these six words to learn more.
First recorded in 1505–15; from French: “office,” from Latin gradus “step, stage, degree,” derivative of gradī “to go, step, walk”
< Latin -gradus, combining form representing gradus step or gradī to walk. See grade, gradient
Grade means "to evaluate or rank," like teachers who grade their students or a food inspector who grades a crop, determining whether it is "food-grade." Grade can be both a noun and a verb. The verb form is used when you grade something, meaning you assign it a value. The actual mark assigned is the noun version of the word grade, such as an A or B. The noun grade can be used to indicate the rank or quality of other items as well, like professional-grade cookware. Grade can also describe the slope of a mountain or road, like a steep grade that is dangerous in bad weather.
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Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth scholars analyzed state test scores from third to eighth grade for more than 5,000 school districts in 38 states, allowing comparisons across school districts and states in a national Education Scorecard.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026
Affluent families who don’t like their local options use private schools or relocate, while poorer families are relegated to schools where most children can’t read or do math at grade level.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
One S5 pupil in Aberdeen who hopes to study medicine, told the BBC she was worried about her chances of being accepted into university if she does not get a top Maths grade.
From BBC • May 11, 2026
“I never grade a Fed chair until maybe five or 10 years later,” Reinhart said.
From MarketWatch • May 10, 2026
A kid in my Hawaiian language class is hoping for a passing grade on our latest quiz.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
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.
