degree
any of a series of steps or stages, as in a process or course of action; a point in any scale.
a stage or point in or as if in progression or retrogression: We followed the degrees of her recovery with joy.
a stage in a scale of intensity or amount: a high degree of mastery.
extent, measure, scope, or the like: To what degree will he cooperate?
a stage in a scale of rank or station; relative standing in society, business, etc.: His uncouth behavior showed him to be a man of low degree.
Education. an academic title conferred by universities and colleges as an indication of the completion of a course of study, or as an honorary recognition of achievement.
a unit of measure, as of temperature or pressure, marked off on the scale of a measuring instrument: This thermometer shows a scale of degrees between only 20° and 40° C.
Geometry. the 360th part of a complete angle or turn, often represented by the sign °, as in 45°, which is read as 45 degrees.: Compare angle1 (def. 1c).
the distinctive classification of a crime according to its gravity: murder in the first degree.
Grammar. one of the parallel formations of adjectives and adverbs used to express differences in quality, quantity, or intensity. In English, low and careful are the positive degree, lower and more careful are the comparative degree, lowest and most careful are the superlative degree.
Mathematics.
the sum of the exponents of the variables in an algebraic term: x3 and 2x2y are terms of degree three.
the term of highest degree of a given equation or polynomial: The expression 3x2y + y2+ 1 is of degree three.
the exponent of the derivative of highest order appearing in a given differential equation.
Music. a tone or step of the scale.
Astrology. any of the 360 equal divisions of the ecliptic measured counterclockwise from the vernal equinox. Each of the 12 signs of the zodiac contains 30 degrees.
a certain distance or remove in the line of descent, determining the proximity of relationship: a cousin of the second degree.
Archaic. a line or point on the earth or the celestial sphere, as defined by degrees of latitude.
Obsolete. a step, as of a stair.
Idioms about degree
by degrees, by easy stages; gradually: She grew angrier by degrees.
to a degree,
to a considerable extent; exceedingly.
to a small extent; somewhat: He is to a degree difficult to get along with.
Origin of degree
1Other words for degree
Other words from degree
- de·greed, adjective
- de·gree·less, adjective
- pre·de·gree, noun
Words that may be confused with degree
- certificate, degree , diploma, license
Words Nearby degree
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use degree in a sentence
So this was seen as perhaps the first known use of this degree to enact a large data grab.
Podcast: COVID-19 is helping turn Brazil into a surveillance state | Anthony Green | September 16, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewWhile it’s unclear how exactly Opendoor is now faring financially, shares of competitors Redfin and Zillow—which have also jumped into the iBuying market, though to a lesser degree—have breached all-time highs.
Crop yields, though, will drop sharply with every degree of warming.
Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration | by Abrahm Lustgarten, photography by Meridith Kohut | September 15, 2020 | ProPublicaAfter his two years in the Peace Corps, Hastings went back to school — this time to Stanford for a graduate degree in computer science.
What if Your Company Had No Rules? (Bonus Episode) | Maria Konnikova | September 12, 2020 | FreakonomicsByteDance is in the mix, along with Microsoft, Walmart and other companies to a lesser degree, like Oracle.
China may kill TikTok’s U.S. operations rather than see them sold | Alex Wilhelm | September 11, 2020 | TechCrunch
“He turned pale, trembled to a great degree, was much agitated, and began to cry,” she told the court.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion | Nina Strochlic | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTInvestigators will focus on whether the sudden emergency was so extreme that no degree of pilot skill would have helped.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly? | Clive Irving | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTDean Todd remained my friend until I graduated in 1988, with my degree in English literature.
I Was Gang Raped at a UVA Frat 30 Years Ago, and No One Did Anything | Liz Seccuro | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“I brought it with no small degree of trepidation,” Kucinich recalled in a lengthy phone conversation with the Daily Beast.
Repubs Should Take It From Kucinich: Impeachment Isn’t Worth It | Eleanor Clift | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI am not one of those people who believe that anyone with a college degree is by definition smarter than those without one.
It is only just to say, that the officers exhibited a degree of courage far beyond any thing we had expected from them.
He asked what time was usually spent in determining between right and wrong, and what degree of expense?
Gulliver's Travels | Jonathan SwiftHe was a bookbinder previous to going upon the stage; and acquired a high degree of reputation as an actor.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellHis Indian repute had not preceded him to such degree as to make the way easy for him through the London crowd.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II | Rudyard KiplingThis is often of great advantage, as the strength of repose is expressed to a great degree in restraint of movement.
Expressive Voice Culture | Jessie Eldridge Southwick
British Dictionary definitions for degree
/ (dɪˈɡriː) /
a stage in a scale of relative amount or intensity: a high degree of competence
an academic award conferred by a university or college on successful completion of a course or as an honorary distinction (honorary degree)
any of three categories of seriousness of a burn: See burn 1 (def. 23)
(in the US) any of the categories into which a crime is divided according to its seriousness: first-degree murder
genealogy a step in a line of descent, used as a measure of the closeness of a blood relationship
grammar any of the forms of an adjective used to indicate relative amount or intensity: in English they are positive, comparative, and superlative
music any note of a diatonic scale relative to the other notes in that scale: D is the second degree of the scale of C major
a unit of temperature on a specified scale: the normal body temperature of man is 36.8 degrees Celsius Symbol: ° See also Celsius scale, Fahrenheit scale
a measure of angle equal to one three-hundred-and-sixtieth of the angle traced by one complete revolution of a line about one of its ends: Symbol: ° See also minute 1, second 2 (def. 1a) Compare radian
: Symbol: °
a unit of latitude or longitude, divided into 60 minutes, used to define points on the earth's surface or on the celestial sphere
a point or line defined by units of latitude and/or longitude
a unit on any of several scales of measurement, as for alcohol content or specific gravity: Symbol: °
maths
the highest power or the sum of the powers of any term in a polynomial or by itself: x 4 + x + 3 and xyz ² are of the fourth degree
the greatest power of the highest order derivative in a differential equation
obsolete a step; rung
archaic a stage in social status or rank
by degrees little by little; gradually
to a degree somewhat; rather
degrees of frost See frost (def. 3)
Origin of degree
1Derived forms of degree
- degreeless, adjective
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
Scientific definitions for degree
[ dĭ-grē′ ]
A unit division of a temperature scale.
A unit for measuring an angle or an arc of a circle. One degree is 1360 of the circumference of a circle.
This unit used to measure latitude or longitude on the Earth's surface.
The greatest sum of the exponents of the variables in a term of a polynomial or polynomial equation. For example, x3 + 2xy + x is of the third degree.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for degree
In geometry, a unit of measurement of angles, 1/360 of a circle. In physics, a unit of temperature (see Celsius, Fahrenheit (see also Fahrenheit), and Kelvin scale). A degree on the Fahrenheit scale is smaller than a degree on the Celsius or Kelvin scale. Degrees on the Celsius and Kelvin scales are the same size.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with degree
see by degrees; third degree; to some degree; to the nth degree.
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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