graduate
a person who has received a degree or diploma on completing a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.
a student who holds the bachelor's or the first professional degree and is studying for an advanced degree.
a graduated cylinder, used for measuring.
of, relating to, or involved in academic study beyond the first or bachelor's degree: graduate courses in business; a graduate student.
having an academic degree or diploma: a graduate engineer.
to receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study (often followed by from): She graduated from college in 1985.
to pass by degrees; change gradually.
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.
Informal. to receive a degree or diploma from: She graduated college in 1950.
to arrange in grades or gradations; establish gradation in.
to divide into or mark with degrees or other divisions, as the scale of a thermometer.
Origin of graduate
1usage note For graduate
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 words from graduate
- grad·u·a·tor, noun
- non·grad·u·ate, noun
- su·per·grad·u·ate, noun
- un·grad·u·at·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
British Dictionary definitions for graduate
a person who has been awarded a first degree from a university or college
(as modifier): a graduate profession
US and Canadian a student who has completed a course of studies at a high school and received a diploma
US a container, such as a flask, marked to indicate its capacity
to receive or cause to receive a degree or diploma
(tr) mainly US and Canadian to confer a degree, diploma, etc upon
(tr) to mark (a thermometer, flask, etc) with units of measurement; calibrate
(tr) to arrange or sort into groups according to type, quality, etc
(intr often foll by to) to change by degrees (from something to something else)
Origin of graduate
1Derived forms of graduate
- graduator, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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