# graduate

/ˈɡɹædʒəˌweɪt/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/graduate
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. person with a degree

noun · CEFR B1

someone who has successfully finished their studies at a university or college.

For teachers: an individual who has been awarded an academic degree or diploma upon completion of a course of study.

- The company is looking to hire a recent graduate for the marketing role.
- As a recent graduate of the law school, she found herself well-prepared for the rigorous demands of her first clerkship.

### 2. measuring container

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a container, like a glass tube or cup, that has lines on it for measuring liquids.

For teachers: a vessel, such as a cylinder or beaker, marked with a scale for measuring contents.

- Pour exactly fifty millilitres of water into the glass graduate.
- The chemist carefully poured the reagent into a glass graduate to ensure the volume matched the experimental protocol exactly.

### 3. to finish school

verb · CEFR B1

to complete your education at a school, college, or university.

For teachers: to receive an academic degree or diploma; used intransitively with 'from' or transitively in some dialects.

- He plans to graduate from high school in June and then travel for a year.
- After he graduated from the university with honours, several prestigious firms offered him immediate employment.

Usage: Usually takes the preposition 'from' before the name of the institution.

### 4. to mark with a scale

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to mark an object with a series of lines or steps for measuring something.

For teachers: to divide into degrees or intervals; to mark a scale on an instrument.

- The ruler is graduated in both centimetres and inches.
- The technician had to graduate the new thermometer manually to ensure the markings aligned with the mercury's expansion rates.

### 5. relating to advanced study

adjective · CEFR B2 · American English

describing a student who is studying for a second, higher degree after their first one.

For teachers: relating to or being a course of study taken after receiving a bachelor's degree.

- She is applying for a graduate program in history at several universities.
- The university offers several graduate fellowships for students pursuing doctoral research in the field of molecular biology.

Teaching tip: In British English, 'postgraduate' is the standard term for this level of study.

## Examples

- She is a recent graduate of the local university.
- The company is looking to hire a university graduate with a strong background in computer science for their entry-level developer role.
- While many graduates enter the workforce immediately after the ceremony, others choose to pursue advanced research or travel abroad before committing to a long-term career path.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.