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.
He had hoped to continue his straight-A streak in Higher Maths and go on to study electrical engineering or law but is now worried he might not make the grade.
From BBC • May 11, 2026
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
The class’s first video to make the grade showed scenes from campus edited together.
From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2023
Didn't you s'pose I knew as well as any one that I got a low-comedy face and couldn't ever make the grade in a serious piece?
From Merton of the Movies by Wilson, Harry Leon
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.
