downgrade: Meaning and Definition of

down•grade

Pronunciation: (doun'grād"), [key]
— n., adj., adv., v., -grad•ed, -grad•ing.
—n.
  1. a downward slope, esp. of a road.
  2. in a decline toward an inferior state or position: His career has been on the downgrade.
—adj., adv.
  1. downhill.
—v.t.
  1. to assign to a lower status with a smaller salary.
  2. to minimize the importance of; denigrate: She tried to downgrade the findings of the investigation.
  3. to assign a lower security classification to (information, a document, etc.).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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