The degree of a polynomial function is the highest power any single term is raised to. For example, (5a - 2b^2) is a second degree function because the "b^2" is raised to the second power and the "a" is only raised to the (implied) first power. For (24xy-xy^3 + x^2) it is a third degree polynomial because the highest power is the cube of -xy.
5^67