high-grade
Americanadjective
-
of excellent or superior quality.
-
(of ore) yielding a relatively large amount of the metal for which it is mined.
verb (used with object)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of high-grade
First recorded in 1875–80
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.
See Examples For:
The ICE BofA index of U.S. high-grade corporate bonds with a weighted average life of over 20 years pays about a 1 percentage point spread, according to FactSet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
That compares with a high-grade corporate spread of about 80 basis points for the ICE BofA US Corporate Index, up from about 73 basis points in June.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
This comes as the rest of the high-grade corporate bond market has held up better.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
With the 10-year inflation break-even rate at around 2.4%, that implies that high-grade corporate bonds could deliver real, inflation-adjusted returns approaching 3% over the next decade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
The requirement now is for high-grade, one-year-old stock, weighing an average of 1,000 pounds.
From Louisiana Beef Cattle by Stubbs, William Carter
Jake sees it plain enough, that the lad thinks he's been high-graded, so he calls over our waiter and crowds all five watches onto him.
From Somewhere in Red Gap by Wilson, Harry Leon
Could it possibly be high-graded, in spite of all the testimony to the contrary?
From Wunpost by Coolidge, Dane
Some high-grading for jumbos; largest 17" cutthroat and 18" rainbow.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 26, 2010
I thought maybe you had been doing a little high-grading or had been up there and sneaked away some of the ore for a salting proposition.
From The Cross-Cut by Cooper, Courtney Ryley
"No—I 'll give you my word I have n't been high-grading," he said at last.
From The Cross-Cut by Cooper, Courtney Ryley
He had to be shown that high-grading was costing him the very thing he was trying to find.
From The Great Gray Plague by Jones, Raymond F.
"You're high-grading and you should be using a flotation process."
From The Great Gray Plague by Jones, Raymond F.
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.
