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

That's enough to loosen steep slopes where some of the 210,000 islanders live off the grid in improvised housing. — ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026

The Labor Day-to-Memorial Day schedule would also ease the summertime strain on the electric grid because schools wouldn’t have to crank up their air conditioners for as long to keep hundreds of students and teachers cool, Patterson argued. — Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Aug. 2026

Microscopic flaws on the crystal surface trap electrical charges, preventing the energy from reaching the electrical grid. — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 16 Aug. 2026

That progress can make vehicles more useful when the electrical grid is unavailable. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 16 Aug. 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