*grade*

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of Yugoslavia. Population (2000) = 1, 168, 454. [ PJC ]

a. [ L. centum a hundred + gradus degree: cf. F. centigrade. ] Consisting of a hundred degrees; graduated into a hundred divisions or equal parts. Specifically: Of or pertaining to the centigrade thermometer; as, 10° centigrade (or 10° C.). In measurements, abreviated C. [ 1913 Webster ]

Centigrade thermometer, a thermometer having the zero or 0 at the point indicating the freezing state of water, and the distance between that and the point indicating the boiling state of water divided into one hundred degrees. It is called also the Celsius thermometer, from Anders Celsius, the originator of this scale. Measurements are reported as ° C. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cilium + L. gradi to step: cf. F. ciliograde. ] (Zool.) Moving by means of cilia, or cilialike organs; as, the ciliograde Medusæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cirrus + L. gradi to walk. ] (Biol.) Moving or moved by cirri, or hairlike appendages. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. citigrade. ] (Zool.) Pertaining to the Citigradæ. -- n. One of the Citigradæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Degraded; p. pr. & vb. n. Degrading. ] [ F. dégrader, LL. degradare, fr. L. de- + gradus step, degree. See Grade, and cf. Degree. ] 1. To reduce from a higher to a lower rank or degree; to lower in rank; to deprive of office or dignity; to strip of honors; as, to degrade a nobleman, or a general officer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Prynne was sentenced by the Star Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar. Palfrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To reduce in estimation, character, or reputation; to lessen the value of; to lower the physical, moral, or intellectual character of; to debase; to bring shame or contempt upon; to disgrace; as, vice degrades a man. [ 1913 Webster ]

O miserable mankind, to what fall
Degraded, to what wretched state reserved! Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yet time ennobles or degrades each line. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her pride . . . struggled hard against this degrading passion. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Geol.) To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.

Syn. -- To abase; demean; lower; reduce. See Abase. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Biol.) To degenerate; to pass from a higher to a lower type of structure; as, a family of plants or animals degrades through this or that genus or group of genera. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Reduced in rank, character, or reputation; debased; sunken; low; base. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Netherlands . . . were reduced practically to a very degraded condition. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) Having the typical characters or organs in a partially developed condition, or lacking certain parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some families of plants are degraded dicotyledons. Dana. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. [ Cf. F. degré step. ] (Her.) Having steps; -- said of a cross each of whose extremities finishes in steps growing larger as they leave the center; -- termed also on degrees. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Deprivation of rank or office; degradation. [ R. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An animal that walks on its toes, as the cat, lion, wolf, etc.; -- distinguished from a plantigrade, which walks on the palm of the foot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. digitus finger, toe + gradi to step, walk: cf. F. digitigrade. ] (Zool.) Walking on the toes; -- distinguished from plantigrade. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To degrade. [ Obs. ] Foxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. grade, L. gradus step, pace, grade, from gradi to step, go. Cf. Congress, Degree, Gradus. ] 1. A step or degree in any series, rank, quality, order; relative position or standing; as, grades of military rank; crimes of every grade; grades of flour. [ 1913 Webster ]

They also appointed and removed, at their own pleasure,
teachers of every grade. Buckle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In a railroad or highway: (a) The rate of ascent or descent; gradient; deviation from a level surface to an inclined plane; -- usually stated as so many feet per mile, or as one foot rise or fall in so many of horizontal distance; as, a heavy grade; a grade of twenty feet per mile, or of 1 in 264. (b) A graded ascending, descending, or level portion of a road; a gradient. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Stock Breeding) The result of crossing a native stock with some better breed. If the crossbreed have more than three fourths of the better blood, it is called high grade. [ 1913 Webster ]

At grade, on the same level; -- said of the crossing of a railroad with another railroad or a highway, when they are on the same level at the point of crossing. --
Down grade, a descent, as on a graded railroad. --
Up grade, an ascent, as on a graded railroad. --
Equating for grades. See under Equate. --
Grade crossing, a crossing at grade. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Graded; p. pr. & vb. n. Grading. ] 1. To arrange in order, steps, or degrees, according to size, quality, rank, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To reduce to a level, or to an evenly progressive ascent, as the line of a canal or road. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Stock Breeding) To cross with some better breed; to improve the blood of. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. ordered by some quantitative ranking; as, Reading tests of graded difficulty.
Syn. -- ordered, ranked. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. leveled and drained but not paved; -- of roads.
Syn. -- graveled. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Cf. AS. grad grade, step, order, fr. L. gradus. See Grade. ] Decent; orderly. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. -- adv. Decently; in order. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who grades, or that by means of which grading is done or facilitated.

2. Specifically: A vehicle used for levelling earth, esp. one with a plow blade suspended from the center, used specifically for grading roads. [ PJC ]

a. [ L. gravis heavy + gradus step. ] (Zool.) Slow-paced. -- n. One of the pachyderms. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. inferior; as, low-grade ore. Opposite of high-grade. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. [ L. palma palm of the hand + gradi to walk. ] (Zool.) Putting the whole foot upon the ground in walking, as some mammals. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. fy^sa a bellows + L. gradi to walk, go. ] (Zool.) Any siphonophore which has an air sac for a float, as the Physalia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An animal of the seal tribe, moving by short feet that serve as paddles. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. planta sole of the foot + gradi to walk: cf. F. plantigrade. ] (Zool.) (a) Walking on the sole of the foot; pertaining to the plantigrades. (b) Having the foot so formed that the heel touches the ground when the leg is upright. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A plantigrade animal, or one that walks or steps on the sole of the foot, as man, and the bears. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. pulmo a lung + gradi to walk. ] (Zool.) Swimming by the expansion and contraction, or lunglike movement, of the body, or of the disk, as do the medusæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. re- re- + gradi to go. Cf. Regrede. ] To retire; to go back. [ Obs. ] W. Hales. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. retrogradus, from retrogradi, retrogressus, to retrograde; retro back + gradi to step: cf. F. rétrograde. See Grade. ] 1. (Astron.) Apparently moving backward, and contrary to the succession of the signs, that is, from east to west, as a planet. Hutton. [ 1913 Webster ]

And if he be in the west side in that condition, then is he retrograde. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Tending or moving backward; having a backward course; contrary; as, a retrograde motion; -- opposed to progressive. “Progressive and not retrograde.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is most retrograde to our desire. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Declining from a better to a worse state; as, a retrograde people; retrograde ideas, morals, etc. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Retrograded p. pr. & vb. n. Retrograding. ] [ L. retrogradare, retrogradi: cf. F. rétrograder. ] 1. To go in a retrograde direction; to move, or appear to move, backward, as a planet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to decline from a better to a worse condition, as in morals or intelligence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. saltus a leap + gradi to walk, go: cf. F. saltigrade. ] (Zool.) Having feet or legs formed for leaping. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) One of the Saltigradae, a tribe of spiders which leap to seize their prey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) One of the Tardigrada. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. tardigradus; tardus slow + gradi to step: cf. F. tardigrade. ] 1. Moving or stepping slowly; slow-paced. [ R. ] G. Eliot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the Tardigrada. [ 1913 Webster ]