technical grade
- adjective
- Specialized
:
grado técnico
- The laboratory ordered technical grade acetone for cleaning purposes.
Examples
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This fertilizer contains technical grade chemicals, which are not pure enough for food production.
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Technical grade solvents are often used in manufacturing but not in pharmaceuticals.
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The factory uses technical grade chemicals for production.
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Is this product made from technical grade materials?
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Technical grade solvents are often used in manufacturing but not in pharmaceuticals.
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The laboratory ordered technical grade acetone for cleaning purposes.
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This fertilizer contains technical grade chemicals, which are not pure enough for food production.
Synonyms
1
4.4
Made to be strong and last a long time for use in businesses or industry
A material that has small amounts of unwanted substances and is used in industry
How Pure
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a level of quality/purity suitable for technical or industrial use' is directly and compositionally derived from 'technical' (relating to technical/industrial use) + 'grade' (a level of quality). A B1 learner who knows both constituent words will grasp the general sense that this denotes a quality level for technical purposes, even if finer distinctions about purity compared with other grades are specialist knowledge.
Etymology
Technical grade comes from old factory labels. The word technical meant 'for machines or industry' and grade meant 'level of quality', so a 'technical grade' product was fine for factory use but 'not pure enough for food or medicine', which is why today it means a chemical good for industrial work but with small impurities.