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

The agency, along with its public advocate’s office, argued that crediting solar developers at the higher rate would raise bills for customers who don’t have solar, who would still have to shoulder the cost of grid maintenance. —Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026

Two were categorized as green mini-grids and four as energy efficiency initiatives. —Arkansas Online, 5 Mar. 2026

As missiles strike cities long assumed to be safe, sovereign wealth funds that have been pouring money into African renewable grids, ports, and startups may soon redirect toward immediate domestic priorities. —Yinka Adegoke, semafor.com, 4 Mar. 2026

Energy Secretary Chris Wright asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October to take jurisdiction over connecting big data centers to the grid, allowing FERC to require data centers to pay for the cost of new transmission, Gramlich said. —Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 4 Mar. 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