graduate
Americannoun
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a person who has received a degree or diploma on completing a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.
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a student who holds the bachelor's or the first professional degree and is studying for an advanced degree.
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a graduated cylinder, used for measuring.
adjective
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of, relating to, or involved in academic study beyond the first or bachelor's degree.
graduate courses in business; a graduate student.
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having an academic degree or diploma.
a graduate engineer.
verb (used without object)
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to receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study (often followed byfrom ).
She graduated from college in 1985.
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to pass by degrees; change gradually.
verb (used with object)
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to confer a degree upon, or to grant a diploma to, at the close of a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.
Cornell graduated eighty students with honors.
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Informal. to receive a degree or diploma from.
She graduated college in 1950.
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to arrange in grades or gradations; establish gradation in.
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to divide into or mark with degrees or other divisions, as the scale of a thermometer.
noun
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a person who has been awarded a first degree from a university or college
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( as modifier )
a graduate profession
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a student who has completed a course of studies at a high school and received a diploma
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a container, such as a flask, marked to indicate its capacity
verb
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to receive or cause to receive a degree or diploma
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(tr) to confer a degree, diploma, etc upon
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(tr) to mark (a thermometer, flask, etc) with units of measurement; calibrate
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(tr) to arrange or sort into groups according to type, quality, etc
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to change by degrees (from something to something else)
Usage
In the sense “to receive a degree or diploma” graduate followed by from is the most common construction today: Her daughter graduated from Yale in 1981. The passive form was graduated from, formerly insisted upon as the only correct pattern, has decreased in use and occurs infrequently today: My husband was graduated from West Point last year. Even though it is condemned by some as nonstandard, the use of graduate as a transitive verb meaning “to receive a degree or diploma from” is increasing in frequency in both speech and writing: The twins graduated high school in 1974.
Other Word Forms
- graduator noun
- nongraduate noun
- supergraduate noun
- ungraduating adjective
Etymology
Origin of graduate
1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin graduātus (past participle of graduāre ), equivalent to grad ( us ) grade, step + -u- thematic vowel + -ātus -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet after he graduated from Arroyo Valley High School in 2015, his main focus became pursuing music.
From Los Angeles Times
Most of that decline was among graduate students.
From Los Angeles Times
The AA has welcomed the measures announced by the government, but said not introducing graduated licences was "a missed opportunity".
From BBC
The route to upward mobility in the U.S. used to be to graduate from college, work a stable white-collar job and buy a home.
Sharron believes Caitlin "would still be here" if the UK had graduated driving licences which forbade newly qualified, young drivers from carrying passengers their own age.
From BBC
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.
