graduation

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Conferral or receipt of an academic degree or diploma marking completion of studies.
2. n. A ceremony at which degrees or diplomas are conferred; a commencement.
3. n. A division or interval on a graduated scale.
4. n. A mark indicating the boundary of such an interval.
5. n. An arrangement in or a division into stages or degrees.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of graduating, or the state of being graduated. The act or art of dividing into degrees or other definite parts, as scales, the limbs of astronomical or other instruments, and the like.
2. n. Admission to a degree in a college or university, or by some professional corporation, as a result of examination.
3. n. The raising of a substance to a higher degree of fineness, consistency, or the like; transmutation, as of metals (in alchemy): concentration, as of a liquid by evaporation.
4. n. Collectively, the marks or lines made on an instrument to indicate degrees or other divisions.
5. n. The act of grading, or the state of being graded; grading.

Wiktionary

1. n. The action or process of graduating and receiving a diploma for completing a course of study (such as from an educational institution).
2. n. A commencement ceremony.
3. n. sciences A marking (i.e. on a container) indicating a measurement.
4. n. The exposure of a liquid in large surfaces to the air, so as to hasten its evaporation.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of graduating, or the state of being graduated
2. n. The marks on an instrument or vessel to indicate degrees or quantity; a scale.
3. n. The exposure of a liquid in large surfaces to the air, so as to hasten its evaporation.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the act of arranging in grades
2. n. a line (as on a vessel or ruler) that marks a measurement
3. n. an academic exercise in which diplomas are conferred
4. n. the successful completion of a program of study