- a mark given in an exam or for a piece of school work
- (British English) She got good grades in her exams.
- (North American English) She got good grades on her exams.
- 70 per cent of students achieved Grade C or above.
Extra Examples- an A-grade essay
- I need to improve my grades.
- She got a failing grade for that assignment.
- The oral exam constitutes 10 per cent of the final grade.
- The proportion of students getting A grades is up.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- final
- A
- B
- …
- achieve
- attain
- earn
- …
- grade point average
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- (in the US school system) one of the levels in a school with children of similar age
- Sam is in (the) second grade.
Extra Examples- He skipped a grade so he finished high school early.
- My son will be starting third grade this fall.
- He moved up three grades in just a year.
- These topics are suitable for seventh grade.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- sixth
- third
- etc.
- …
- enter
- start
- complete
- …
- level
- school
- in… grade
- the quality of a particular product or material
- All the materials used were of the highest grade.
Extra Examples- a piece of high grade building land
- low grade steel
- Grade A beef
- a piece of top grade beef
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- high
- top
- low
- …
- a level of ability or rank that somebody has in an organization
- salary/pay grades (= levels of pay)
- She's still only on an entry grade.
Extra Examples- He was offered a job at a lower grade.
- The majority of staff are on the same grade.
- large pay increases for senior grades
- the people on management grades
- The higher grades within the organization usually get bigger pay rises.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- high
- senior
- junior
- …
- at a/the… grade
- on a/the… grade
- (specialist) how serious an illness is
- low/high grade fever
- (especially North American English) (also gradient British and North American English)a slope on a road or railway; the degree to which the ground slopes
- The hill has a grade of 25 per cent.
- We hiked up a short steep grade.
- (British English) a level of exam in musical skill
- grade 6 piano
Word Originearly 16th cent.: from French, or from Latin gradus ‘step’. Originally used as a unit of measurement of angles (a degree of arc), the term later referred to degrees of merit or quality.
Idioms
See grade in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee grade in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe above/beyond somebody's pay grade
- to be a decision or an area of work that somebody does not have the authority or expert knowledge to deal with
- This decision is above my pay grade.
make the grade
- (informal) to reach the necessary standard; to succeed
- About 10 per cent of trainees fail to make the grade.
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grade