1the amount, level, or extent to which something happens or is present:a degree of caution is probably wise [mass noun]:a question of degree
2a unit of measurement of angles, one ninetieth of a right angle or the angle subtended by one three-hundred-and-sixtieth of the circumference of a circle:set at an angle of 45 degrees (Symbol: °)
3a unit in any of various scales of temperature, intensity, or hardness:water boils at 100 degrees Celsius (Symbol: °)
4a stage in a scale or series, in particular:
[in combination] each of a set of grades (usually three) used to classify burns according to their severity.See first-degree, second-degree, third-degree.
[in combination] a legal grade of crime or offence, especially murder:second-degree murder
[often in combination] a step in direct genealogical descent:second-degree relatives
Music a position in a musical scale, counting upwards from the tonic or fundamental note:the lowered third degree of the scale
Mathematics the class into which an equation falls according to the highest power of unknowns or variables present:an equation of the second degree
Grammar any of the three steps on the scale of comparison of gradable adjectives and adverbs, namely positive, comparative, and superlative.
a rank in an order of freemasonry.
archaic a thing placed like a step in a series; a tier or row.
5an academic rank conferred by a college or university after examination or after completion of a course, or conferred as an honour on a distinguished person:a degree in zoology
6 [mass noun] archaic social or official rank:persons of unequal degree
by degrees
a little at a time; gradually:rivalries and prejudice were by degrees fading out
to a degree
to some extent:to a degree, it is possible to educate oneself
dated to a considerable extent:the pressure you were put under must have been frustrating to a degree
