Meaning & use
degree
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Meanings
nouncountable
A qualification awarded by a university or college after students complete a course.
Grammar: Countable: a degree in biology, two degrees.
Patterns
- a degree in something
- a degree from somewhere
- earn a degree
She earned a degree in engineering at a state university.
He is studying for a master's degree.
A degree is required for the job.
nouncountabletechnical
A unit for measuring temperature or an angle.
Grammar: Written with a small circle: 90°; after a number it takes the plural.
Patterns
- ninety degrees
- degrees Celsius
Water boils at one hundred degrees Celsius.
Turn the dial ninety degrees to the right.
It was thirty degrees outside by noon.
nounsingular
How much or how strongly something happens or exists.
Grammar: Needs a: a high degree of skill; also used in to some degree.
Patterns
- a degree of something
- to some degree
- to a large degree
The job requires a high degree of skill.
To some degree, the delay was my fault.
She showed a surprising degree of patience.
nouncountable
One step or stage in a series, rank or scale.
Grammar: Used in ordinal-like names: first degree burn, third degree.
Patterns
- first-degree something
- by degrees
He suffered a second-degree burn on his hand.
The fog cleared by degrees.
He was charged with murder in the first degree.
Word forms
| plural | degrees |
|---|
Common combinations
- bachelor's degree
- She holds a bachelor's degree in history.
- to some degree
- To some degree, everyone feels nervous before a test.
- degrees Celsius
- The temperature dropped to five degrees Celsius.
- a high degree of
- The task demands a high degree of accuracy.
- honorary degree
- The university gave her an honorary degree.
- by degrees
- His anger faded by degrees.
Synonyms and how they differ
- qualification
- Qualification is a wider word that includes any certificate or exam, while a degree comes from a university.
- extent
- Extent describes how far something reaches and fits the sense of amount, as in to what extent.
- level
- Level suggests a position on a scale, such as skill, more than an amount.
- diploma
- Diploma usually names a shorter or lower course or the certificate itself, not the degree.
Word family
- graduate verb
- to complete a degree
- graduate noun
- a person who has a degree
- undergraduate noun
- a student working toward a first degree
- postgraduate noun
- a student studying after a first degree
- degreeless adjective
- having no degree, rare
Commonly confused: degree or diploma?
degree vs diploma
A diploma is a certificate, often from a school or a shorter course, while a degree is awarded by a university.
Practice
The job demands a high ______ of accuracy, so every figure must be checked.
Choose one answer.
A high degree of accuracy is the natural collocation for an amount or extent. The other options do not combine with of accuracy in this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “degree”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.