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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  

[grayd] / 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

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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

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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

Some match candidates to jobs, others grade and screen CVs.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

On Friday, the Moody's ratings agency is expected to lower its grade on France's public debt, which is one of the highest in the EU compared with GDP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

In July, he had dropped off the cards at a company called Professional Sports Authenticator and paid it $8,000 to authenticate and grade them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

He was in the eighth grade when the first shutdowns began.

From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2026

Natalie and Shannon had met in homeroom last year at the beginning of sixth grade and had immediately bonded over their shared love of boba tea, K-pop, and extreme weather shows.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

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

"I think about exams and not getting the right grades, which leads to not getting into the right course and then not getting into university, and it's very stressful," she said.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

Trading cards and other collectibles are verified and assigned condition grades by PSA, which establishes their value and protects them by assigning serial numbers and certification information.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

The union says that many of the affected workers are lower-paid grades, and the new requirements will increase cost-of-living pressures, while disrupting the arrangements of disabled workers and carers.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

With every language-services company using its own accuracy measures, everyone essentially grades their own homework, using their own rules.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

“I’ve reviewed your homeschool records and your achievement tests. They’re all very impressive. We don’t have any grades from East Hamlin Middle yet.”

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty

The cards had been sent from all over the country to PSA to be graded, a necessary step for collectors in authenticating their wares.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. insurers have around $40 billion of debt investments on their books that Egan-Jones has privately graded.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

The result is that the Flagg card was graded a PSA Gem Mint 10 with a 10 autograph grade — as close to perfect as possible.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Among the criteria graded on Anderson's 'radar chart' were defensive regains, duel success, line-breaking passes, aerial-duel success and defensive errors.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Had she not died, she would’ve met Oscar, read this paper, graded it, talked to him during her office hours.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

Quince offers both lab-grown and natural stones which come with a grading report, the aforementioned return policy and a warranty.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026

He said he spent $8,000 on grading, and the cards carried insurance of up to $156,000, less than their market value.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

The grading system is based on a one to five hockey mask scale, five being best.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

In the reports, OpenAI said that it had improved its alignment grading system to better penalize bad behavior.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

What did become clear was that, given the Carter grading plan, it was possible to give Gary Edwards just about any grade.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

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Related Words

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

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