Gradual
['grædʒʊəl] or ['ɡrædʒuəl]
Definition
(noun.) (Roman Catholic Church) an antiphon (usually from the Book of Psalms) immediately after the epistle at Mass.
(adj.) proceeding in small stages; 'a gradual increase in prices' .
(adj.) (of a topographical gradient) not steep or abrupt; 'a gradual slope' .
Edited by Daisy--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Proceeding by steps or degrees; advancing, step by step, as in ascent or descent or from one state to another; regularly progressive; slow; as, a gradual increase of knowledge; a gradual decline.
(n.) An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps.
(n.) A service book containing the musical portions of the Mass.
(n.) A series of steps.
Edited by Donnie
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Regular (step by step), progressive, slow.
Edited by Anselm
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Slow, continuous, unintermittent, gradational, regular, step_by_step,progressive
ANT:Sudden, momentary, instantaneous, periodic, recurrent, intermittent, discontinuous,broken, disconnected
Typist: Ruth
Examples
- He pretended to no gradual change of views; he wheeled about at once. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- As the lid is closed, the picture becomes darkened, and by the gradual removal of the screen at the same time, it is changed into a transparency. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- What is termed development is the gradual making explicit and outward of what is thus wrapped up. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The scene before the reddleman's eyes was a gradual series of ascents from the level of the road backward into the heart of the heath. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- But seals would not find on oceanic islands the conditions favourable to their gradual reconversion into a terrestrial form. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- This state of the eyes is probably due to gradual reduction from disuse, but aided perhaps by natural selection. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Have you observed any gradual alteration in Papa? Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Some weeks before their death, they feel a gradual decay; but without pain. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- By gradual steps, initiated in Starley’s Rover in 1880, (see Fig. 183), the high front wheel was reduced in size, until the proportions of the modern Safety (Fig. 184) have been obtained. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The figures following each other show consecutively a gradual progression, or change in position. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The author apparently believes that organisation progresses by sudden leaps, but that the effects produced by the conditions of life are gradual. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- There's no occasion to trouble ourselves to move,' said Noah, getting his legs by gradual degrees abroad again. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- A long, gradual ascent is better than a shorter, steeper one. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The change has evidently been too sudden to be ascribed to any change in the value of silver, which is always slow and gradual. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- In this case a gradual change of structure is supposed to lead to changed instinctive habits. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Checked by Blanchard