Definition of "graduate" []

• To be granted an academic degree or diploma: Two thirds of the entering freshmen stayed to graduate. (verb-intransitive)
• To change gradually or by degrees. (verb-intransitive)
• To advance to a new level of skill, achievement, or activity: After a summer of diving instruction, they had all graduated to back flips. (verb-intransitive)
• To grant an academic degree or diploma to: The teachers hope to graduate her this spring. (verb-transitive)
• Usage Problem To receive an academic degree from. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I might add, in the health law, they did do some reconfiguration of what they call the graduate medical education slots."
• "The Mexican graduate is already a specialist but by U.S. standards is poorly educated."
• "The U.S. graduate is much better educated, but not nearly as proficient in his chosen profession."