grid

noun

ˈgrid 

1

: grating

2

a(1)

: a perforated or ridged metal plate used as a conductor in a storage battery

(2)

: an electrode consisting of a mesh or a spiral of fine wire in an electron tube

(3)

: a network of conductors for distribution of electric power

also : a network of radio or television stations

b

: a network of uniformly spaced horizontal and perpendicular lines (as for locating points on a map)

also : something resembling such a network

a road grid

c

: gridiron sense 3

broadly : football

3

: the starting positions of cars on a racecourse

4

: a device in a photocomposer on which are located the characters to be exposed as the text is composed

Examples of grid in a Sentence

The students plotted points on a grid.

The city streets form a grid.

Recent Examples on the Web

Electric bills keep climbing amid grid pressures, and the Key Bridge rebuild has seen costs balloon and timelines slip toward and maybe beyond 2030 after Moore dropped a major contractor. —Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 13 May 2026

When a heat wave hits, millions of air conditioners switch on at once, straining the electric grid and driving up the risk of outages — and residents’ power bills. —Kiki Sideris, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026

Thailand is considering new policies to give rooftop solar users a bigger bang for their buck by increasing the amount of surplus energy the national grid can buy. —ABC News, 13 May 2026

Guthrie did not make Indy’s starting grid in 1976 but still traveled to North Carolina and made her NASCAR Cup Series debut by starting the World 600 in Charlotte. —Michael Marot, Chicago Tribune, 13 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from gridiron

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing grid

• cattle grid
• micro-grid
• off-grid
• off-the-grid

Rhymes for grid

• bid
• did
• hid
• id
• lid
• mid
• quid
• rid
• skid
• slid
• squid
• amid

Kids Definition

grid

noun

ˈgrid 

1

: grating sense 1

2

: a metal plate used as a conductor in a storage battery

3

: an element of an electron tube consisting of a network of fine wire

4

: a network of horizontal and perpendicular lines (as for locating points on a map using coordinates or for counting a sample of particles or organisms on a microscope slide)

5

: a network of conductors for distribution of electrical power

also : a network of radio or television stations