a position in a scale of ranks or qualities

a mark indicating a degree of accomplishment at school

a class of things of the same stage or degree

NAmer a group of pupils at the same level; a school form, class, or year

a stage in a process

a gradient

a domestic animal with one parent purebred and the other of inferior breeding

to assign a grade to (something or somebody)

(often + up) to improve (e.g. cattle) by breeding with purebred animals

to level off (a road etc) to a smooth horizontal or sloping surface

to pass from one stage or level to another, often by scarcely perceptible degrees