grid

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
grid/ɡrɪd/

▶noun

• 1 a framework of spaced bars that are parallel to or cross each other.

• 2 a network of lines that cross each other to form a series of squares or rectangles.

  ■ a numbered grid on a map that enables a place to be precisely located.

• 3 a network of cables or pipes for distributing power, especially high-voltage electricity.

  ■ a number of computers linked together via the Internet so that their combined power may be harnessed.

• 4 a pattern of lines marking the starting places on a motor-racing track.

• 5 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 (usu. as adj. gridded) put into or set out as a grid.

– origin C19: back-form. from gridiron.