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gradual
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
gradual
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a gradual improvement
▪ There has been a gradual improvement in educational standards.
a gradual reduction
▪ The markets are hoping for a gradual reduction in interest rates.
a gradual shift
▪ There has been a gradual shift in people’s attitudes towards cars.
gradual
▪ After 1870, there was a gradual decline of the disease.
gradual
▪ There has been a gradual change in the weather.
gradual (=happening slowly)
▪ Her temperature chart showed a gradual increase over the preceding six hours.
gradual
▪ Elections will be held in the course of a gradual transition from military to civilian rule.
gradual/continuous evolution
▪ The social system is undergoing continuous evolution to adapt to these rapid changes.
gradual/steady erosion
▪ There has been a steady erosion of the court's powers over the last ten years.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
more
▪ No initial peak was seen in costs in the under 5s and the increase up to the 75-84 age group was more gradual.
▪ As for the partners in her practice, they had to agree to a more gradual plan for building the practice.
▪ John Major's rejection of the policies and principles held by his political predecessor has been much more gradual.
▪ Recurrence of severe headache should immediately signal the need to increase the dosage and to subsequently reduce it in more gradual decrements.
▪ The process is more gradual than can be the case on a major.
▪ Arteaga and Alarcon have publicly opposed the extreme economic measures Bucaram had announced, while supporting more gradual reform.
▪ But the ministers favoured a more gradual approach, entailing unanimity at each stage.
▪ The low incidence of early ventricular fibrillation is probably due to a more gradual opening of the vessel than was once thought.
very
▪ The onset of the disease is very gradual and breathlessness only becomes troublesome when about half of the lung has been destroyed.
▪ The consolation, as Trondur pointed out, was that the process was still very gradual.
▪ With very gradual familiarisation training spread over many months of flying, some of these students have been completely cured.
▪ Keep yourself on a very gradual withdrawal schedule.
▪ In many ways a power reduction is more difficult to deal with, especially if the reduction is very gradual but progressive.
■ NOUN
approach
▪ Now 33, Tabkay told of his gradual approach to Buddhism from his days as a student at university in Norwich.
▪ When I suggest this gradual approach, parents inevitably worry about spoiling.
▪ But the ministers favoured a more gradual approach, entailing unanimity at each stage.
▪ While Teng said she preferred taking her more gradual approach to extending voting rights, she said she supported the initiative.
▪ And it is possible to help by a low-key, unthreatening, gradual approach, building trust over a number of months.
change
▪ It is a curious paradox that evolution and gradual change were linked with revolution and sudden change.
▪ Whether as a result of this or coincidentally, his body embarked on a series of coordinated gradual changes.
▪ True, rather than making wholesale changes, gradual changes should be made.
▪ The people were undergoing a gradual change in political outlook.
▪ Rather there was a gradual change in tone and emphasis but one that should not be exaggerated.
▪ A gradual change observed over the course of several days is called a trend.
▪ Extreme fluctuations in climate are more likely to have a detectable effect on man's settlement patterns than gradual changes.
▪ But keep in mind that this is usually a slow and gradual change.
decline
▪ General cargo continued to flow through the port but there was a gradual decline in dock activity.
▪ Instead, we will see a gradual decline of direct supervision as teams mature.
▪ The gradual decline and progressively more severe consequences are not predictable.
▪ I have seen the gradual decline.
▪ The gradual decline of the latter adversely affected the congregation.
▪ Because tuberculosis affects women more than men, the gradual decline of that disease benefited female survival.
▪ In contrast, there has been a gradual decline in local authority provision.
▪ At the same time, a gradual decline set in with the advent of freight transportation on the roads.
deterioration
▪ More of the gradual deterioration of the relationship into nagging on her part and lying on his.
▪ Its presence suggests gradual deterioration of one of the reagents or instrument components. 60.
▪ Helping and caring Very often the resident is aware of this gradual deterioration and the drawing towards the end of life.
development
▪ The gradual development of cohesive political units with important leaders of lineages will have extended and strengthened this pattern.
▪ According to Piaget, a number of factors prompt the gradual development of the will.
▪ We can not do this overnight, but it can be achieved with gradual development over a number of years.
▪ Many of the gradual developments are likely to come from groups in the Oxford environment.
▪ You will see the gradual development of a less self-centred view in your child's play.
emergence
▪ All of the capacities could have evolved independently, but then obtained further impetus for change from the gradual emergence of language.
▪ Eventually the recovery becomes incomplete and we can see the gradual emergence of chronic disease.
▪ The humanist Renaissance of the late Middle Ages had already witnessed the gradual emergence of reasoning independent of the church.
erosion
▪ Furthermore, long-standing untreated gonorrhoea and syphilis cause joint swelling and inflammation with the gradual erosion of complete joints in severe cases.
▪ The condition is characterized by spinal cysts and the gradual erosion of spinal nerves.
▪ Hence, since the late 1960s there has been a gradual erosion of the line between sales promotion and advertising.
evolution
▪ Such continuous variables foster continuous and gradual evolution.
improvement
▪ These show that there has been a gradual improvement in girls' performance in mathematics relative to that of boys.
▪ It builds on what it has done well, drawing strength from small triumphs and symptoms of gradual improvement.
▪ The amount of pigmentation tends to increase slightly with age up to adolescence and brings with it a gradual improvement in visual acuity.
▪ Terry didn't believe in social workers, left-wing politicians, radical lawyers, liberals or gradual improvement.
increase
▪ The problem was resolved by a gradual increase in the social division of labour.
▪ A review of her temperature chart showed a gradual increase over the preceding eight hours.
▪ The gradual increase and specialization of radio channels disintegrated the audience.
▪ The main innovation was the gradual increase in the number of Sri Lankan magistrates and judges.
▪ A falling mortality rate led to a gradual increase in the proportion of the aged in the population.
▪ For women, a pattern of gradual increase was seen by birth cohort in all age groups.
▪ But from 1941 onwards there was a gradual increase in optimism.
loss
▪ And one of the distinctive features of life here has been a gradual loss of the ability to distinguish right from wrong.
▪ What factors cause the gradual loss of the moss and what can be done to restore the moss?
▪ From 326 onwards pagan temples began to suffer the gradual loss of old endowments.
▪ The result of a build-up of scale is boiler noise and a gradual loss of boiler efficiency.
▪ I suffered acutely, both from the gradual loss of faith and from the necessity of silence.
▪ Also there is a gradual loss of function of some brain cells which can result in forgetfulness and sometimes confusion.
▪ If continued for months and years, such exposure will result in soiling of the wood surface and gradual loss of fibre.
process
▪ Relearning is a longer, gradual process with ups and downs and it is too easy just to give up.
▪ Once again, this is a gradual process.
▪ Conran's transition from manufacturing to retailing was a gradual process.
▪ This will be a gradual process.
▪ This gradual process was in its way just as significant as the more dramatic annexations of former Angevin territories.
▪ The same gradual process will be needed to help a child become less aggressive.
▪ A working relationship is built by a gradual process of growing confidence and trust.
▪ Poisoning by laudanum, or other opium derivatives, is a comparatively gradual process.
reduction
▪ He then discussed this with the general practitioner and gradual reduction of the antidepressant was initiated.
▪ The effect is generally noted in the first week when a gradual reduction in the frequency of wetting is noted.
▪ Other targets included the elimination of public waste, a gradual reduction of interest rates and the liberalization of investment regulations.
▪ Increased output has enabled most NICs to experience rising percapita income and a gradual reduction in poverty within their societies.
shift
▪ This involvement testifies to a gradual shift of emphasis from the sectarian to the collaborative.
▪ That gradual shift in attitudes was first seen in the 1992 presidential debates between Bill Clinton and George Bush.
▪ This is a gradual shift in social attitudes.
▪ Those last years saw a gradual shift from the somnambulance and uncertain awakenings of my earlier time in college.
▪ With the end of the medieval period, however, a gradual shift in viewpoint took place.
transition
▪ The development of Mosley's economic ideas in the 1920s showed a gradual transition from a socialist to a nationalist Perspective.
▪ The programmes were broadly similar in their call for a gradual transition to the market and a return to more state control.
▪ Ageing has to be recognized as a process, a gradual transition, rather than a once-for-all event.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Because the cell destruction is gradual, a victim's pancreas can function normally for years.
▪ I had noticed a gradual improvement in her written work.
▪ Over the past year, her friends have noticed gradual changes in her behavior.
▪ The chart showed a gradual rise in his temperature over the previous eight hours.
▪ We're seeing gradual improvement in labor conditions.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ According to Piaget, a number of factors prompt the gradual development of the will.
▪ As with all drama work, it's important to move forward at an appropriate pace, to aim for gradual progression.
▪ Some central features of narrative construction were studied, including the gradual embellishment of stories and their emotional content.
▪ Technological change, however, is less blatant, more insidious, more gradual and more effective.
▪ The Annual Registers record the gradual transformation of the Krankoor family name.
▪ The path is marked, the rise gradual, the sunlight bright and playful filtering through the leaves.
▪ To be sure, the generational shift has been gradual.
▪ You will see the gradual development of a less self-centred view in your child's play.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Gradual

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.

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

Gradual

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.)

    1. An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps.

    2. A service book containing the musical portions of the Mass.

  2. A series of steps. [Obs.]
    --Dryden.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
gradual

early 15c., "having steps or ridges," from Medieval Latin gradualis, from Latin gradus "step" (see grade (n.)). Meaning "arranged by degrees" is from 1540s; that of "taking place by degrees" is from 1690s.

Wiktionary
gradual

a. Proceeding by steps or small degrees; advancing step by step, as in ascent or descent or from one state to another; regularly progressive; slow. n. 1 (context Roman Catholic Church English) An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps. 2 (context Roman Catholic Church English) A service book containing the musical portions of the Mass.

WordNet
gradual

  1. adj. 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]

gradual

n. (Roman Catholic Church) an antiphon (usually from the Book of Psalms) immediately after the epistle at Mass

Wikipedia
Gradual

The Gradual ( Latin: graduale or responsorium graduale) is a chant or hymn in the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In the Tridentine Mass it is sung after the reading or chanting of the Epistle and before the Alleluia, or, during penitential seasons, before the Tract. In the Mass of Paul VI the gradual corresponds to the Responsorial Psalm. There is the option to replace this psalm with the gradual, but its use is extremely rare. It is part of the Proper of the Mass.

Gradual can also refer to a book collecting all the musical items of the Mass. The official such book for the Roman Rite is the Roman Gradual (in Latin, Graduale Romanum). Other such books include the Dominican Gradual.

Usage examples of "gradual".

In offering a few hints for the domestic management of these abnormal conditions, we would at the same time remark, that, while health may be regained by skillful treatment, recovery will be gradual.

The transformation of the absolutist and patrimonial model consisted in a gradual process that replaced the theological foundation ofterritorial patrimony with a new foundation that was equally transcendent.

When the tentacles do not begin moving for a much longer time, namely, from half an hour to three or four hours, the particles have been slowly brought into contact with the glands, either by the secretion being absorbed by the particles or by its gradual spreading over them, together with its consequent quicker evaporation.

Another subtle aspect of addiction is that, although it is the first dose that hooks us, the whole process is usually so subtle and gradual that it can take years for us to realize that we are actually hooked.

The description of the black forest with the evil stone, and of the terrible cosmic adumbrations when the horror is finally extirpated, will repay one for wading through the very gradual action and plethora of Scottish dialect.

This time he experienced no gradual climb to consciousness, no algetic banging in his head to pull him up.

He wanted a gradual buildup going toward the election before taking care of those atheistic mutant bastards.

While the gradual introduction of biometric identifiers will help, that process will take years, and a name match will always be useful.

Greek philosophy which taught, clearly and without bombast, the ascent from the cave and the gradual advance of souls to a truer and truer vision.

Authentic Existences but their simulacra--there is nothing here but a jargon invented to make a case for their school: all this terminology is piled up only to conceal their debt to the ancient Greek philosophy which taught, clearly and without bombast, the ascent from the cave and the gradual advance of souls to a truer and truer vision.

These tribes the Jesuits on many occasions attempted to civilize, but almost entirely without success, as the long record of the martyrdom of Jesuit missionaries in the Chaco proves, as well as the gradual abandonment of their missions there, towards the second half of the eighteenth century.

Chronic diseases are generally slow in their inception and development and can only be cured by gradual stages.

By gradual degress I saw more clearly, I learned a little of what I knew.

Gradual experiences of his business among his fellows were teaching an exercised mind to learn in regions where minds unexercised were doctorial giants beside it.

Joanne Doss began falling apart, remembered the decline, as had her father, as gradual, insidious, ending in grotesquerie.