noun , verb
■ noun / ˈgrædʒuət; NAmE / (also informal grad especially in NAmE )
1.
graduate (in sth) a person who has a university degree :
a graduate in history
a science graduate
a graduate of Yale / a Yale graduate
a graduate student / course
2.
( NAmE ) a person who has completed their school studies :
a high school graduate
➡ note at student
■ verb / ˈgrædʒueɪt/
1.
[ v ] graduate (in sth) | graduate (from ... ) to get a degree, especially your first degree, from a university or college :
Only thirty students graduated in Chinese last year.
She graduated from Harvard this year.
He graduated from York with a degree in Psychology.
2.
[ v ] graduate (from ... ) ( NAmE ) to complete a course in education, especially at high school :
Martha graduated from high school two years ago.
3.
[ vn ] graduate sb (from sth) ( NAmE ) to give a degree, diploma , etc. to sb :
The college graduated 50 students last year.
4.
[ v ] graduate (from sth) to sth to start doing sth more difficult or important than what you were doing before :
She recently graduated from being a dancer to having a small role in a movie.
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : from medieval Latin graduat- graduated, from graduare take a degree, from Latin gradus degree, step.