Gradual

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gradual \Grad"u*al"\; a. [Cf; F. graduel. See {Grade}, and cf.
     {Gradual}, 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.


     [1913 Webster]
  
           Creatures animate with gradual life
           Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in man.
                                                    --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gradual \Grad"u*al\, n. [LL. graduale a gradual (in sense 1),
     fr. L. gradus step: cf. F. graduel. See {Grade}, and cf.
     {Grail} a gradual.]
     1. (R. C. Ch.)
        (a) An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the
            Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon
            ascended the steps.
        (b) A service book containing the musical portions of the
            Mass.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A series of steps. [Obs.] --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  gradual
       adj 1: proceeding in small stages; "a gradual increase in prices"
              [ant: {sudden}]
       2: of a topographical gradient; not steep or abrupt; "a gradual
          slope" [ant: {steep}]
       n : (Roman Catholic Church) an antiphon (usually from the Book
           of Psalms) immediately after the epistle at Mass

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  68 Moby Thesaurus words for "gradual":
     ambling, cautious, circumspect, claudicant, crawling, creeping,
     creeping like snail, deliberate, dilatory, easy, even, faltering,
     flagging, foot-dragging, gentle, halting, hobbled, hobbling, idle,
     inchmeal, indolent, lagging, languid, languorous, lazy, leisurely,
     limping, lumbering, moderate, piecemeal, poking, poky, regular,
     relaxed, reluctant, sauntering, shuffling, slack, slothful, slow,
     slow as death, slow as molasses, slow as slow, slow-crawling,
     slow-foot, slow-going, slow-legged, slow-moving, slow-paced,
     slow-poky, slow-running, slow-sailing, slow-stepped, sluggish,
     snail-paced, snaillike, staggering, steady, step-by-step,
     strolling, tentative, toddling, tortoiselike, tottering, trudging,
     turtlelike, unhurried, waddling