grade

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

grade, n. [F. grade, L. gradus step, pace, grade, from gradi to step, go. Cf. Congress, Degree, Gradus.].

•  A step or degree in any series, rank, quality, order; relative position or standing; as, grades of military rank; crimes of every grade; grades of flour.  [1913 Webster]

  "They also appointed and removed, at their own pleasure,
  teachers of every grade."  [1913 Webster]
•  The rate of ascent or descent; gradient; deviation from a level surface to an inclined plane; -- usually stated as so many feet per mile, or as one foot rise or fall in so many of horizontal distance; as, a heavy grade; a grade of twenty feet per mile, or of 1 in 264.  [1913 Webster]
•  The result of crossing a native stock with some better breed. If the crossbreed have more than three fourths of the better blood, it is called high grade.  [1913 Webster]

At grade, on the same level; -- said of the crossing of a railroad with another railroad or a highway, when they are on the same level at the point of crossing. -- Down grade, a descent, as on a graded railroad. -- Up grade, an ascent, as on a graded railroad. -- Equating for grades. See under Equate. -- Grade crossing, a crossing at grade.

grade, v. t. 

•  To arrange in order, steps, or degrees, according to size, quality, rank, etc.  [1913 Webster]
•  To reduce to a level, or to an evenly progressive ascent, as the line of a canal or road.  [1913 Webster]
•  To cross with some better breed; to improve the blood of.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

grade, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a certain degree in rank, merit, proficiency, quality, etc. b a class of persons or things of the same grade.
2 a a mark indicating the quality of a student's work. b an examination, esp. in music.
3 US a class in school, concerned with a particular year's work and usu. numbered from the first upwards.
4 a a gradient or slope. b the rate of ascent or descent.
5 a a variety of cattle produced by crossing native stock with a superior breed. b a group of animals at a similar level of development.
6 Philol. a relative position in a series of forms involving ablaut.
--v.
1 tr. arrange in or allocate to grades; class, sort.
2 intr. (foll. by up, down, off, into, etc.) pass gradually between grades, or into a grade.
3 tr. give a grade to (a student).
4 tr. blend so as to affect the grade of colour with tints passing into each other.
5 tr. reduce (a road etc.) to easy gradients.
6 tr. (often foll. by up) cross (livestock) with a better breed.

Idiom

at grade US on the same level. grade crossing US = level crossing. grade school US elementary school. make the grade colloq. succeed; reach the desired standard.

Etymology

F grade or L gradus step

THESAURUS

grade

acclivity, adjust, align, alphabetize, amount, analyze, arrange, array, ascend, ascent, assort, bank, bevel, bezel, blood, bolt, bracket, branch, break down, bulk, caliber, calibrate, calibrated, cant, careen, caste, catalog, categorize, category, chute, clan, class, classify, climb, codify, collate, compass, condition, cool off, correct, cut, cut it, dab, decline, declivity, decrease, degree, deploy, descend, descent, differentiate, digest, dip, dispose, divide, division, downgrade, drag, dress, drop, dub, easy slope, echelon, enlarge, equalize, estate, evaluate, even, extent, fall, fall away, fall off, fell, file, flatten, fleam, flush, form, gauge, gentle slope, glacis, go downhill, go uphill, gradate, gradation, gradational, gradient, gradual, graduate, graduated, grease, group, grouping, hack it, hanging gardens, harmonize, harrow, head, heading, height, helicline, hierarchic, hierarchize, hill, hillside, inclination, incline, inclined plane, increase, index, interval, keel, kin, label, launching ramp, lay, lay down, lay flat, lay level, lay low, lay out, league, lean, leaning, leap, level, line up, list, lubricate, make it, make the grade, mark, marshal, match, measure, measure up, methodize, mow, normalize, notch, nuance, oil, order, organize, pacify, pas, pass, peg, period, pigeonhole, pitch, place, plane, planish, plaster, plateau, point, position, predicament, progressive, proportion, qualify, quiet, race, rake, ramp, range, rank, rase, rate, rating, ratio, raze, reach, regular, regularize, regulate, remove, retreat, riddle, rise, roll, roll flat, round, routinize, rubric, rung, scalar, scale, scarp, scope, score, screen, section, separate, sept, set, set up, shade, shade off, shadow, shave, shelve, shelving beach, side, sidle, sieve, sift, situation, size, slant, slope, smooth, smooth down, smooth out, smoothen, sort, sort out, space, stage, stair, standard, standardize, standing, state, station, status, steamroll, steamroller, steep slope, step, stiff climb, stint, strain, stratum, structure, subdivide, subdivision, subgroup, suborder, subordinate, succeed, swag, sway, systematize, tabulate, talus, tier, tilt, tip, title, track, tranquilize, tread, type, upgrade, uprise, year

ROGET THESAURUS

grade

Degree

N degree, grade, extent, measure, amount, ratio, stint, standard, height, pitch, reach, amplitude, range, scope, caliber, gradation, shade, tenor, compass, sphere, station, rank, standing, rate, way, sort, point, mark, stage, intensity, strength, comparative, gradual, shading off, within the bounds, by degrees, gradually, inasmuch, pro tanto, however, howsoever, step by step, bit by bit, little by little, inch by inch, drop by drop, a little at a time, by inches, by slow degrees, by degrees, by little and little, in some degree, in some measure, to some extent, di grado in grado.

Arrangement

VB reduce to order, bring into order, introduce order into, rally, arrange, dispose, place, form, put in order, set in order, place in order, set out, collocate, pack, marshal, range, size, rank, group, parcel out, allot, distribute, deal, cast the parts, assign the parts, dispose of, assign places to, assort, sort, sift, riddle, put to rights, set to rights, put into shape, put in trim, put in array, apportion, class, classify, divide, file, string together, thread, register, catalogue, tabulate, index, graduate, digest, grade, methodize, regulate, systematize, coordinate, organize, settle, fix, unravel, disentangle, ravel, card, disembroil, feaze.

Term

N term, rank, station, stage, step, degree, scale, remove, grade, link, peg, round of the ladder, status, position, place, point, mark, pas, period, pitch, stand, standing, footing, range.

Learner

N learner, scholar, student, pupil, apprentice, prentice, journeyman, articled clerk, beginner, tyro, amateur, rank amateur, abecedarian, alphabetarian, alumnus, eleve, recruit, raw recruit, novice, neophyte, inceptor, catechumen, probationer, seminarian, chela, fellow-commoner, debutant, intern, resident, schoolboy, fresh, freshman, frosh, junior soph, junior, senior soph, senior, sophister, sophomore, questionist, undergraduate, graduate student, law student, medical student, pre-med, post-doctoral student, post-doc, matriculated student, part-time student, night student, auditor, class, grade, seminar, form, remove, pupilage, disciple, follower, apostle, proselyte, fellow-student, condisciple, school, in statu pupillari, in leading strings, practise makes perfect.