<B>grade, </B>noun, verb, <B>graded,</B> <B>grading.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>any one division of an elementary or high school, arranged according to the pupils' progress and covering a year's work. <BR> <I>Ex. the fifth grade.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the group of pupils in any one of these divisions. <BR> <I>Ex. The whole fourth grade stayed after school to finish the work for their play.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a step or stage in a course or process. <DD><B> 3. </B>a degree or position in rank, quality, or value. <BR> <I>Ex. Grade A milk is the best milk. Motor routes leading to Paris were reported thick with family cars of all grades (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a group of persons or things having the same rank, quality, or value; class. <BR> <I>Ex. All the rough grade of lumber should be stacked over here.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(U.S.) a number or letter that shows how well one has done; mark. <BR> <I>Ex. Her grade in English is B.</I> <DD><B> 6a. </B>the slope of a road or railroad track. <BR> <I>Ex. a steep grade, an up grade.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the amount of slope of a road or railroad track. <DD><B> c. </B>the rate of ascent or descent. <DD><B> 7. </B>a hybrid animal, especially a cross between native stock and a superior breed. <DD><B> 8. </B>(Linguistics.) the position occupied in an ablaut series. <DD><B> 9. </B>(Zoology.) a group in the genetic classification of animals whose members are presumed to have branched from the common stem at about the same point of its development. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to place in classes; arrange in grades; sort. <BR> <I>Ex. These apples are graded by size. With many hundreds of cheeses grading is very difficult (J. A. Barnett).</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>to give a mark or grade to. <BR> <I>Ex. The teacher graded the papers.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to place in a grade (def. 1); separate into grades. <BR> <I>Ex. to grade new pupils, a graded school.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to make more nearly level. <BR> <I>Ex. The road up the steep hill was graded.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to color with shades or tints that pass one into another. <DD><B> 5. </B>to improve (a breed) by crossing with a better one. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to change gradually; go through a series of steps, stages, or degrees. <BR> <I>Ex. Red and yellow grade into orange.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to be of a particular grade or quality. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Linguistics.) to be altered by gradaion or ablaut. <BR><I>expr. <B>at grade,</B> (U.S.) <DD><B> a. </B>on the same level. </I> <I>Ex. Does not the junction road ... cross the streets ... at grade? (Congressional Globe).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>having a stable pattern of erosion and deposition. <BR> <I>Ex. Steams, or parts of streams, that are thus balanced between erosion and deposition are said to be ... flowing at grade (Robert M. Garrels).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>make the grade,</B> </I>(Informal.) to overcome difficulties; be successful. <BR> <I>Ex. It took him a lot of hard work to make the grade in business.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>the grades,</B> </I>(U.S.) an elementary school; grade school. <BR> <I>Ex. Are you in high school or are you still in the grades?</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gradea">
<B>grade-A</B> or <B>Grade-A, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) of the highest grade; first-class. </DL>
<A NAME="gradecreep">
<B>grade creep,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a steady increase in the classification level of civil-service jobs, resulting in automatic promotions. </DL>
<A NAME="gradecrossing">
<B>grade crossing,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a place where a railroad crosses a highway, street, or other railroad on the same level; level crossing. </DL>
<A NAME="gradedschool">
<B>graded school, =grade school.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gradelabeling">
<B>grade labeling,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the giving of information about the quality of goods on a label on the container in which the goods are sold. </DL>
<A NAME="gradeless">
<B>gradeless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> without a grade or grades. </DL>
<A NAME="gradely">
<B>gradely, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>orderly, decent, or respectable; proper; good. <BR> <I>Ex. It may not have been great Rugby football at Clarence Field, Kirkstall, on Saturday, but it was a gradely performance (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>handsome, comely, or fine. <DD><B> 3. </B>great; thorough. <DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1. </B>decently; properly; well. <DD><B> 2. </B>thoroughly; very. </DL>
<A NAME="gradepoint">
<B>grade point,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Education.) a unit of credit for a course or semester's work, varying with the grade or grades achieved during the semester. </DL>
<A NAME="gradepointaverage">
<B>grade-point average,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Education.) a measure of scholastic achievement obtained by dividing all the grade points earned by the number of hours of the course or courses taken: (Abbr:) GPA (no periods). </DL>
<A NAME="grader">
<B>grader, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that grades. <DD><B> 2. </B>a student who is in a certain grade at school. <BR> <I>Ex. a sixth grader.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a machine on large wheels that levels uneven or bumpy ground. </DL>
<A NAME="grades">
<B>grades, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>grade.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gradeschool">
<B>grade school,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) an elementary school or grammar school; graded school. </DL>
<A NAME="gradeseparation">
<B>grade separation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an intersection of highways, streets, or railroads on different levels, with ramps from one level to another, so that traffic going in one direction crosses over or under traffic going in a cross direction. </DL>
<A NAME="gradient">
<B>gradient, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the rate at which a road, railroad track, river channel, or other slope goes upward or downward. <DD><B> 2. </B>the sloping part of a road, railroad track, river channel, or other grade. (SYN) incline, slope, inclination. <DD><B> 3a. </B>the rate at which a variable quantity, such as temperature or pressure, changes in value. <DD><B> b. </B>the curve that represents this rate. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>going up or down gradually. (SYN) sloping, slant. <DD><B> 2a. </B>progressing by taking steps with the feet, as an animal does; walking; ambulant. <DD><B> b. </B>modified for walking or running, as the feet of various birds are; gressorial. </DL>
<A NAME="gradienter">
<B>gradienter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a surveyor's instrument for fixing grades, consisting essentially of a telescope, a spirit level, and a graduated vertical arc, mounted on a tripod. </DL>
<A NAME="gradin">
<B>gradin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>one of a series of low steps or seats raised one above the other. <DD><B> 2. </B>a shelf or one of a series of shelves behind and above an altar. </DL>
<A NAME="gradine">
<B>gradine, </B>noun. <B>=gradin.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gradiometer">
<B>gradiometer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an instrument for measuring the gradient of the earth's gravitational or magnetic field. </DL>
<A NAME="gradual">
<B>gradual, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> by degrees too small to be separately noticed; little by little. <BR> <I>Ex. This low hill has a gradual slope. A child's growth into an adult is gradual. Isabel By gradual decay from beauty fell (Keats).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> Also, <B>Gradual.</B> <B>1. </B>an antiphon sung between the Epistle and the Gospel of the Communion service. <DD><B> 2. </B>a liturgical book with all the music and words to be sung by the choir during the Communion service. adv. <B>gradually.</B> noun <B>gradualness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gradualism">
<B>gradualism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the principle or method of gradual, as opposed to immediate, change. <BR> <I>Ex. Yet gradualism is rejected by extremists on both sides (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gradualist">
<B>gradualist, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> an advocate of gradualism. <BR> <I>Ex. Warren is a gradualist because "history, like nature, knows no jumps" (Harper's).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of gradualism or gradualists. <BR> <I>Ex. a gradualist approach.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="graduand">
<B>graduand, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a student who is to be graduated. </DL>
<A NAME="graduate">
<B>graduate, </B>verb, <B>-ated,</B> <B>-ating,</B> noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to finish a course of study at a school, college, or university and receive a diploma or paper saying so. <BR> <I>Ex. Her brother graduated from the university last year.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to change gradually. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to give a diploma or other documentto (a student) for finishing a course of study. <BR> <I>Ex. He was graduated with honors. $228,000 [was] spent on a nurses' school that had graduated only forty-three nurses in seven years (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>to mark out in equal spaces for measuring. <BR> <I>Ex. My ruler is graduated in inches. A thermometer is graduated in degrees.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to arrange in regular steps, stages, or degrees. <BR> <I>Ex. The federal income tax is graduated so that people who make more money pay a higher rate of taxes.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person who has finished a course of study and has his diploma. <BR> <I>Ex. The professor was a graduate of several schools.</I> (SYN) alumnus. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a container marked with degrees or quantities for measuring. <DD><B> b. </B>the quantity held in such a container. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>that has graduated, especially from a college or university; holding a bachelor's degree. <BR> <I>Ex. a graduate student.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or for graduates. <BR> <I>Ex. a graduate course, graduate study.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="graduated">
<B>graduated, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>marked so as to indicate degrees or quantities. <BR> <I>Ex. a graduated flask.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>arranged in grades or gradations, as in size or in amount. <BR> <I>Ex. a string of graduated pearls.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="graduatedpaymentmortgage">
<B>graduated payment mortgage,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a mortgage on which monthly payments are low in the early years after purchase of a house, rising gradually thereafter. </DL>
<A NAME="graduatenurse">
<B>graduate nurse,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who has graduated from a school offering professional training for nurses. </DL>
<A NAME="graduateschool">
<B>graduate school,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a division of a university, offering a curriculum leading to the master's and doctor's degrees. </DL>
<A NAME="graduateship">
<B>graduateship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the period or condition of being a graduate. </DL>
