make the grade
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Coltin Stidham wanted to be a pilot, but his eyesight didn’t make the grade.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
But the band’s early attempts to make the grade had fallen flat on its face.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 23, 2025
For sports desperate to make the grade, the journey can be daunting, frustrating, and heartbreaking.
From BBC • May 6, 2024
The class’s first video to make the grade showed scenes from campus edited together.
From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2023
Some of us tried to get aft as soon as we were clear of the Seagull, but couldn’t make the grade over the wreck of the bridge.
From Sea-Hounds by Freeman, Lewis R.
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.
