make the grade

present singular third person makes the grade · participle present making the grade · participle past made the grade · past made the grade

1. idiomaticTo prove satisfactory; to be successful or worthy of merit.

   Near-synonym: fit the bill

   4 more examples

   In 1916 the famed Van Sweringen brothers bought their first railroad—the Nickel Plate. . . . This year, as usual, the tarnished Nickel Plate cannot make the grade. In first seven months it lost $2,003,779.

   1938 October 17, “Tarnished Plate”, in TIME, archived from the original on 26 Aug 2010

   I read the news today, oh boy About a lucky man who made the grade And though the news was rather sad Well, I just had to laugh

   1967, Beatles, A Day In The Life

   In the end, only eight plucky contestants made the grade.

   2009 March 19, Margaret Wente, “Please stop nannying us, Toronto!”, in Globe and Mail, Canada, page A13

   He quit the role after You Only Live Twice, frustrated by the repetitive plots, but was enticed back after his successor George Lazenby failed to make the grade.

   2020 November 1, Alan Young, “Sean Connery obituary: From delivering milk in Fountainbridge to the definitive James Bond”, in The Scotsman, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2025

   Synonyms: cut it, cut the mustard, make the cut, measure up, pass muster, fit the bill