grid

 
Pronunciation: /grɪd/

noun

  • 1a framework of spaced bars that are parallel to or cross each other; a grating: the metal grids had been pulled across the foyer
  • 2a network of lines that cross each other to form a series of squares or rectangles: a grid of tree-lined streets
  • a grid of regular squares on a map that are marked with numbers or letters to enable a place to be precisely located.
  • a pattern of lines marking the starting places on a motor-racing track: the 20-year-old didn’t get the best of starts off the grid
  • a field for American football; a gridiron.
  • 3a network of cables or pipes for distributing power, especially high-voltage transmission lines for electricity: the reactor was connected to the grid in 1985
  • Computing a number of computers linked together via the Internet so that their combined power may be harnessed to work on difficult problems.
  • 4 Electronics an electrode placed between the cathode and anode of a thermionic valve or cathode ray tube, serving to control or modulate the flow of electrons.

verb

[with object] (usually as adjective gridded)
  • put into or set out as a grid: a core of gridded streets

Phrases

off the grid

chiefly US
not connected to the basic services, especially electricity.

Origin:

mid 19th century: back-formation from gridiron