a degree or step in a scale, as of rank, advancement, quality, value, or intensity

the best grade of paper.

a class of persons or things of the same relative rank, quality, etc.

a step or stage in a course or process.

a single division of a school classified according to the age or progress of the pupils. In the U.S., public schools are commonly divided into twelve grades below college.

the pupils in such a division.

grades, elementary school (usually prec. by the )

He first began teaching in the grades.

a letter, number, or other symbol indicating the relative quality of a student's work in a course, examination, or special assignment; mark.

a classification or standard of food based on quality, size, etc.

grade A milk.

inclination with the horizontal of a road, railroad, etc., usually expressed by stating the vertical rise or fall as a percentage of the horizontal distance; slope.

Building Trades . Also called grade line. the level at which the ground intersects the foundation of a building.

an animal resulting from a cross between a parent of ordinary stock and one of a pure breed.

Mathematics . grad 2 .

to arrange in a series of grades; class; sort

a machine that grades two thousand eggs per hour.

to determine the grade of.

to assign a grade to (a student's work); mark

I graded forty tests last night.

to cause to pass by degrees, as from one color or shade to another.

to reduce to a level or to practicable degrees of inclination

to grade a road.

to cross (an ordinary or low-grade animal) with an animal of a pure or superior breed.

to incline; slant or slope

The road grades steeply for a mile.

to be of a particular grade or quality.

to pass by degrees from one color or shade to another; blend

See how the various colors grade into one another.

grade up, to improve (a herd, flock, etc.) by breeding with purebreds. ?

at grade

on the same level

A railroad crosses a highway at grade.

(of a stream bed) so adjusted to conditions of slope and the volume and speed of water that no gain or loss of sediment takes place.

make the grade

to attain a specific goal; succeed

He'll never make the grade in medical school.

up to grade

of the desired or required quality

This shipment is not up to grade.

noun

brand , caliber , category , class , classification , condition , degree , division , echelon , estate , form , gradation , group , grouping , league , level , mark , notch , order , pigeonhole * , place , position , quality , rung * , size , stage , standard , station , tier , acclivity , ascent , bank , cant , climb , declivity , descent , downgrade , elevation , embankment , gradient , height , hill , inclination , inclined plane , lean , leaning , obliquity , pitch , plane , ramp , rise , slant , tangent , tilt , upgrade , peg , point , rung , step , bracket , rank , heel , incline , list , rake , slope , tip , cline , continuum , curve , hierarchy , standing

verb

arrange , assort , brand , class , classify , group , order , range , rate , sort , value , categorize , distribute , pigeonhole , place , rank , mark , degree , hill , slope