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 ]

He saw many removes and degradations in all the other offices of which he had been possessed. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being reduced in rank, character, or reputation; baseness; moral, physical, or intellectual degeneracy; disgrace; abasement; debasement. [ 1913 Webster ]

The . . . degradation of a needy man of letters. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Deplorable is the degradation of our nature. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Moments there frequently must be, when a sinner is sensible of the degradation of his state. Blair. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value; degeneration; deterioration. [ 1913 Webster ]

The development and degradation of the alphabetic forms can be traced. I. Taylor (The Alphabet). [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Geol.) A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, frost etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Biol.) The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration. [ 1913 Webster ]

The degradation of the species man is observed in some of its varieties. Dana. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Physiol.) Arrest of development, or degeneration of any organ, or of the body as a whole. [ 1913 Webster ]

Degradation of energy, or
Dissipation of energy (Physics), the transformation of energy into some form in which it is less available for doing work.

Syn. -- Abasement; debasement; reduction; decline. [ 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 ]

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 ]

2. (Chem.) To bring to a certain strength or grade of concentration; as, to gradate a saline solution. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or process of bringing to a certain grade. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any degree or relative position in an order or series. [ 1913 Webster ]

The several gradations of the intelligent universe. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Fine Arts) A gradual passing from one tint to another or from a darker to a lighter shade, as in painting or drawing. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Mus.) A diatonic ascending or descending succession of chords. [ 1913 Webster ]

Could we have seen [ Macbeth's ] crimes darkening on their progress . . . could this gradatory apostasy have been shown us. A. Seward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Suitable for walking; -- said of the limbs of an animal when adapted for walking on land. [ 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 ]

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 ]

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

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

2. Rising or descending by regular degrees of inclination; as, the gradient line of a railroad. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Adapted for walking, as the feet of certain birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A part of a road which slopes upward or downward; a portion of a way not level; a grade. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The rate of increase or decrease of a variable magnitude, or the curve which represents it; as, a thermometric gradient.

4. (Chem., Biochem.) The variation of the concentration of a chemical substance in solution through some linear path; also called concentration gradient; -- usually measured in concentration units per unit distance. Concentration gradients are created naturally, e.g. by the diffusion of a substance from a point of high concentration toward regions of lower concentration within a body of liquid; in laboratory techniques they may be made artificially. [ PJC ]

gradient maker (Biochem.) a device which creates a concentration gradient in a solution within some apparatus; -- used, e. g., for separation of biochemical substances. [ PJC ]

Gradient post, a post or stake indicating by its height or by marks on it the grade of a railroad, highway, or embankment, etc., at that spot.

Creatures animate with gradual life
Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in man. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A series of steps. [ Obs. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In degree. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Human reason doth not only gradually, but specifically, differ from the fantastic reason of brutes. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gradualness of this movement. M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gradualness of growth is a characteristic which strikes the simplest observer. H. Drummond. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To mark with degrees; to divide into regular steps, grades, or intervals, as the scale of a thermometer, a scheme of punishment or rewards, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To admit or elevate to a certain grade or degree; esp., in a college or university, to admit, at the close of the course, to an honorable standing defined by a diploma; as, he was graduated at Yale College. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To prepare gradually; to arrange, temper, or modify by degrees or to a certain degree; to determine the degrees of; as, to graduate the heat of an oven. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dyers advance and graduate their colors with salts. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Chem.) To bring to a certain degree of consistency, by evaporation, as a fluid. [ 1913 Webster ]

Graduating engine, a dividing engine. See Dividing engine, under Dividing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) To taper, as the tail of certain birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To take a degree in a college or university; to become a graduate; to receive a diploma. [ 1913 Webster ]

He graduated at Oxford. Latham. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was brought to their bar and asked where he had graduated. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A graduated cup, tube, flask, or cylinder; a glass measuring container used by apothecaries and chemists. See under Graduated. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beginning with the genus, passing through all the graduate
and subordinate stages. Tatham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Tapered; -- said of a bird's tail when the outer feathers are shortest, and the others successively longer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Having visible marks and numbers at vertical intervals, permitting one to estimate the quantitity of material contained; -- of vessels, most commonly those used in laboratories for containing liquids. See graduated cylinder, etc., below. [ PJC ]

Graduated cylinder,
Graduated flask,
Graduated tube,
Graduated bottle,
Graduated cap,
Graduated glass a vessel, usually of glass, having horizontal marks upon its sides, with figures, to indicate the amount of the contents at the several levels. --
Graduated spring (Railroads), a combination of metallic and rubber springs. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of graduating, or the state of being graduated; as, graduation of a scale; graduation at a college; graduation in color; graduation by evaporation; the graduation of a bird's tail, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The marks on an instrument or vessel to indicate degrees or quantity; a scale. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The exposure of a liquid in large surfaces to the air, so as to hasten its evaporation. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An instrument for dividing any line, right or curve, into small, regular intervals. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An apparatus for diffusing a solution, as brine or vinegar, over a large surface, for exposure to the air. [ 1913 Webster ]