Definition

1. Noun:

   • A person who has received an academic degree or diploma: An individual who has successfully completed a course of study, typically at a high school, college, or university.
   • A measuring instrument: A container, often a glass cylinder, with marked lines for measuring liquid volumes.

2. Verb:

   • To receive an academic degree or diploma: To successfully complete a course of study at an educational institution.
   • To confer an academic degree upon someone: To grant a degree to a student upon completion of their studies.
   • To mark with degrees for measuring: To calibrate an instrument, like a cylinder, with a scale of measurements.
   • To change or progress gradually: To move by degrees from one state or condition to another.

3. Adjective:

   • Relating to advanced academic study: Pertaining to studies beyond a bachelor's degree.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • She is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
  • The chemist used a graduate to measure the solvent.

• Verb:

  • He will graduate from college next spring.
  • The university graduates over 5,000 students annually.
  • The technician will graduate the flask for precise experiments.
  • The colors graduate from light blue to deep purple.

• Adjective:

  • She is applying to graduate programs in biology.

Advanced Usage

• "To graduate to something": To advance or move on to a higher level, often after gaining experience.

  • After two years as an analyst, she graduated to a management position.

• Postgraduate/graduate studies: Refers to academic work undertaken after earning a first degree (e.g., a master's or doctorate).

Variants and Related Words

• Graduation (n): The ceremony where degrees are conferred; the act of graduating.
• Postgraduate (adj/n): (Adjective) Relating to study after a first degree. (Noun) A student engaged in such study.
• Undergraduate (n): A student at a college or university who has not yet earned a bachelor's degree.
• Graduated (adj): Marked with a scale of measurements (e.g., a graduated cylinder); arranged in steps or degrees.

Synonyms

• Noun (person): Alumnus/alumna, degree-holder, grad.
• Verb (complete studies): Finish, complete, get a degree.
• Verb (calibrate): Mark, scale, calibrate.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Graduate from: To complete a course of study at a specific institution.
  • She graduated from medical school in 2022.

Related Idioms

• Not a graduate of the school of hard knocks: A humorous or ironic way to say someone has not learned through difficult life experiences.
  • He's book-smart but not a graduate of the school of hard knocks.

Adjective

1. of or relating to studies beyond a bachelor's degree
   • graduate courses

Noun

1. a measuring instrument for measuring fluid volume; a glass container (cup or cylinder or flask) whose sides are marked with or divided into amounts
2. a person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university)

Verb

1. make fine adjustments or divide into marked intervals for optimal measuring
   • calibrate an instrument
   • graduate a cylinder
2. confer an academic degree upon
   • This school graduates 2,000 students each year
3. receive an academic degree upon completion of one's studies
   • She graduated in 1990