grade
1. grade \'gra-d\ n [F, fr. L gradus step, degree; akin to L gradi to step,
go, Lith Xgridyti to go, wander 1a1: a stage in a process 1a2: a position
in a scale of ranks or qualities 1b: a class organized for the work of a
particular year of a school course 1c: a military or naval rank 1d: a
degree of intensity in illness {~ Iii carcinoma} 2a: a class of things of
the same stage or degree 2b: a mark indicating a degree of accomplishment
in school 2c: a standard of food quality {prime-grade beef} 3a: the
degree of inclination of a road or slope; also : a sloping road 3b: a
datum or reference level; esp : ground level 3c: ELEVATION 4: a domestic
animal with one parent purebred and the other of inferior bre eding
2. grade vt 1a: to arrange in grades : SORT 1b: to arrange in a scale or
series 2: to level off to a smooth horizontal or sloping surface 3: to
improve by breeding females to purebred males 1a: to form a series 1b:
BLEND 2: to be of a particular grade