Definition: 1. Happening slowly over a long period; not sudden. 2. Not steep.
Use 'gradual' in a sentence:
1. The biggest concern of pumping out water from this deep is the gradual settling down of the land surface.
2. The greatest hope for reform is the gradual spread of information.
3. The development of industry has been a gradual process throughout human existence, from stone tools to modern technology.
4. It is caused by damage to the blood vessels in the eyes, and results in gradual vision loss and blindness.
5. Friendships are not made in a day, and the computer would be more acceptable as a friend if it simulated the gradual changes that occur when one person is getting to know another.
6. The doctor noticed a gradual improvement in his patient.
7. Women's liberation opened up new professional opportunities for women, and, over time, some of the best left teaching as a career option, bringing about a gradual decline in the quality of schooling.
8. These rapid course changes can subject your feet, hips14 and legs to forces and stresses that may not affect someone running on level roads or gradual inclines. Running downhill, for example, may lead to jammed and sprained15 toes.
9. They expect a gradual improvement in sales of new cars.
10. Yin said the online guideline for when people of different ages should retire is fake, and the central government will take much slower, gradual steps in extending the retirement6 age, and will inform the public in advance.
11. He hopes for a gradual disconnection from the federation.
12. The gradual drying of the soil caused by its diminished ability to absorb water results in the further loss of vegetation, so that a cycle of progressive surface deterioration is established.
13. When you get one over R, you get a gradual fall.
14. While this can happen, it is often a more gradual process that occurs over different experiences.
15. They are an organic whole, is a gradual process.
16. As a result, the world's forests are now facing gradual extinction.
17. The formation of this tolerance is a gradual process in China.
18. Whatever colour changes the ocean experiences in the coming decades will probably be too gradual and unnoticeable, but they could mean significant changes .
19. Social development is a gradual process.
20. The process can usefully be thought of in terms of the gradual emergence of two somewhat separate features: the self as a subject, and the self as an object.
21. Friendships are not made in a day, and the computer would be more acceptable as a friend if it imitated the gradual changes that occur when one person is getting to know another.
22. Release of methane into the atmosphere will be gradual, but steady.
23. Andropause-also colloquially1 known as male menopause-is said to be the result of a gradual drop in testosterone, which is an androgen.
24. The impact of air pollution on people will be gradual.
25. In response to these gradual climatic swings, some species have shifted their ranges hundreds of kilometers.
26. Research on Gradual Opening Up of China Capital Market.
27. The Black Death of 1348 was caused by gradual loss of the humus fertility found under forest trees.
28. Training for a marathon requires careful preparation and steady, gradual increases in the length of the runs.
29. The evolution of North American horse, which was once presented as a classic textbook example of gradual evolution, is now providing equally compelling evidence for punctuated equilibrium.
30. A gradual agricultural revolution in northern Europe stemmed from concerns over food supplies at a time of rising populations.
31. Age brought a gradual diminution of his strength and energy.
32. The most important factor for the survival of a species is its ability to compete and adapt to gradual changes in its environment.
33. It's the tiny, gradual improvements that add up to world-beating results.
34. It is a historic process of gradual development which is both continuative and multistage.
35. There has been a gradual increase in the birth rate.
36. To learn a language we must follow the principle of gradual improvement.
37. They're gradual variations but their effects can be pretty abrupt.
38. Measuring the gradual loss of soil requires scientific techniques and equipment.
39. The biggest concern of pumping out water from this deep in the gradual settling down of the land surface.
40. The unified. The guideline has called for efforts to take gradual steps toward reimbursing and common illnesses incorporated.
41. In that study, each of eight different trilobite species was observed to undergo a gradual change in the number of segments.
42. These changes were gradual and at first scarcely visible.
43. Recovery from the disease is very gradual.
44. If evolution had been a continuous, gradual process, one might expect that almost every fossil specimen would be slightly different from every year.
45. The cart began its gradual ascent up the hill.
46. People tried to persuade him to go for a more gradual reform programme.
47. This angelic laser begins slowly the gradual process of transforming the virginal human body to the essence of the soul itself.
48. There is a gradual descent to the sea.
49. It was a tough course over a gradual ascent before the big climb of Bluebell Hill.
50. The impact of this sameness on our emotional energy is gradual, but huge: It's like a tire with a slow leak.
51. You can expect her progress at school to be gradual rather than brilliant.
52. Instead of giving people practice, the gradual reduction likely gave them cravings and withdrawal symptoms before they even reached quit day, which could be why fewer people in that group actually made it to that point.
53. The roads are built to accommodate gradual temperature changes.