<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>a degree or step in a scale, as of rank, advancement, quality, value, or intensity: the best grade of paper.</li><li>a class of persons or things of the same relative rank, quality, etc.</li><li>a step or stage in a course or process.</li><li>a single division of a school classified according to the age or progress of the pupils.</li><li>(the) grades.</li><li>the pupils in such a division.</li><li>a letter, number, or other symbol indicating the relative quality of a student's work in a course, examination, or special assignment; mark.</li><li>a classification or standard of food based on quality, size, etc.: grade A milk.</li><li>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.</li><li>an animal resulting from a cross between a parent of ordinary stock and one of a pure breed.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>to arrange in a series of grades; class; sort: a machine that grades two thousand eggs per hour.</li><li>to determine the grade of.</li><li>to assign a grade to (a student's work); mark: I graded forty tests last night.</li><li>to cause to pass by degrees, as from one color or shade to another.</li><li>to cross (an ordinary or low-grade animal) with an animal of a pure or superior breed.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used without object)</strong></p><ul><li>to incline; slant or slope: The road grades steeply for a mile.</li><li>to be of a particular grade or quality.</li><li>to pass by degrees from one color or shade to another; blend: See how the various colors grade into one another.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb phrase</strong></p><ul><li>to improve (a herd, flock, etc.) by breeding with purebreds.</li></ul>