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• grade
  grade

  noun

  a degree or step in a scale, as of rank, advancement, quality, value, or intensity.
• -grade
  -grade

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

grade

¹ American  

[greyd] / greɪd /

noun

• grades
  plural

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. Also called grade line.  Building Trades. 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.

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verb (used with object)

• grades,
  present (3rd person singular)
• graded,
  past participle,  past
• grading
  present participle

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)

• grades,
  present (3rd person singular)
• graded,
  past participle,  past
• grading
  present participle

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

idioms

1. up to grade, of the desired or required quality.

   This shipment is not up to grade.

2. 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.

3. make the grade, to attain a specific goal; succeed.

   He'll never make the grade in medical school.

-grade ² American  

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

   plantigrade.

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grade ¹ British  

/ ɡreɪd /

noun

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

   small-grade eggs

   high-grade timber

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

7. 1. a part of a railway, road, etc, that slopes upwards or downwards; inclination

   2. 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

8. a unit of angle equal to one hundredth of a right angle or 0.9 degree

9. stockbreeding

   1. an animal with one purebred parent and one of unknown or unimproved breeding

   2. ( as modifier ) Compare crossbred purebred

      a grade sheep

10. linguistics one of the forms of the vowel in a morpheme when this vowel varies because of gradation

11. 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

12. informal

    1. to reach the required standard

    2. to succeed

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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

-grade ² British  

combining form

1. indicating a kind or manner of movement or progression

   plantigrade

   retrograde

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grade Scientific  

/ 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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grade More Idioms  

1. see make the grade.

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Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misgrade
  verb
• overgrade
  verb (used with object)
• pregrade
  verb (used with object)
• regrade
  verb (used with object)
• misgraded
  adjective
• multigrade
  adjective
• ungraded
  adjective
• well-graded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• grades
  plural

Participles

• grading
  present
• graded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• grade
  simple
• grades
  simple
• have graded
  perfect
• has graded
  perfect
• am grading
  progressive
• are grading
  progressive
• is grading
  progressive
• have been grading
  perfect progressive
• has been grading
  perfect progressive

Past

• graded
  simple
• had graded
  perfect
• was grading
  progressive
• were grading
  progressive
• had been grading
  perfect progressive

Future

• will grade
  simple
• will have graded
  perfect
• will be grading
  progressive
• will have been grading
  perfect progressive

Etymology

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

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grade -grade grades graded grading

Investors are concerned that the company’s increasing capital expenditures are straining its balance sheet and potentially pushing its credit rating below investment grade.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

In May, Harvard University faculty voted to approve a 20% cap on the number of A’s per undergraduate course in an effort to curb grade inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

As we catch up, I remind her of a PG-13 scene she caused in eighth grade science class during an earthquake drill.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

A voter who is 25 was in grade school during the 2008 economic crash, and saw everything—frightened parents, lost jobs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

In seventh grade, our mothers had decided we should be friends because they were.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Investment-grade munis outperformed investment -grade taxable bonds by about 3%, while high-yield munis outperformed by a massive 11.4%.

From Forbes ● Jan. 15, 2015

Alongside a five-story addition built 61 years ago, the antique landmark is jammed by 1,009 kindergarten - through -sixth -grade pupils.

From Time Magazine Archive

Although grades won’t be recorded on student transcripts or affect grade-point averages, professors will still assign them internally to track eligibility for scholarships and academic awards.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

They have been asked to provide an equivalency assessment of their grades -- one they cannot possibly meet because, he said, "there are no functioning ministries or institutions" in Gaza.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

The upper grades are moving in from another location, and about 600 new admits won a lottery that had close to 3,500 applications.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

More than 90% of entries at private schools achieved grades A to C this year at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher level, while state schools remain below 80%.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

He’s on MathWhiz daily, and the few grades I’ve seen have been better.

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty

Ultimately, of course, the CEO’s effectiveness will be graded by the market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

If graded on a curve for performance this year, financial stocks would still barely receive a passing grade.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 2, 2026

In Germany, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz supports restricting or even banning social media for children, an expert commission has proposed two options: a ban graded by age or platform-specific restrictions.

From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026

Councils may be graded as requiring 'urgent improvement' and penalised in the running of their Children's Services departments under the regulator's proposals to tackle the issue.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

For the first few miles the Stampede Trail was well graded and led past cabins scattered among weedy stands of spruce and aspen.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Alongside competition has been grading everything a player does, so there is no ambiguity as to where a player stands on the depth chart or in the program.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

"During testing, any form of human intervention was strictly prohibited," and the AI solutions were submitted to IMO organisers for grading, Xiaohongshu said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

For one thing, there’s very little grading of processing.

From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026

An adjusted-GPA system would redirect student and institutional pressure on professors away from lenient grading and toward rigor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

Late afternoon: In the office at Berkeley I shared with several other lecturers and teaching assistants, I was grading some papers.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

Related Words

• category
• class
• classification
• condition
• degree
• level
• quality
• size
• standard