■ noun
1》 a particular level of rank, quality, proficiency, or value.
↘ Linguistics a relative position in a series of forms involving ablaut.
2》 a mark indicating the quality of a student's work.
↘ N. Amer. (with specifying ordinal number) those pupils in a school who are grouped by age or ability for teaching at a particular level for a year: she teaches first ~.
3》 chiefly N. Amer. a gradient or slope.
4》 a variety of cattle produced by crossing with a superior breed.
■ verb
1》 arrange in or allocate to ~s.
2》 chiefly N. Amer. give a mark to (a student's work).
3》 pass gradually from one level to another.
4》 reduce (a road) to an easy gradient.
5》 cross (livestock) with a superior breed.
Phrases
at ~ N. Amer. on the same level.
make the ~ informal succeed.
Origin
C16: from Fr., or from L. gradus 'step'.