See Also: gradient(dictionary)
gradient(encyclopedia)
gradient(2)(dictionary)
gradient(1)(dictionary)
gradient(medicine)
mitral gradient(medicine)
systolic gradient(medicine)
ventricular gradient(medicine)
voltage gradient(medicine)
Disparity gradient(health)

gradient(2) (iou)



gradient noun. M19.
[Prob. from GRADE noun after salient.]
The degree of slope of a road, railway, etc.; amount of inclination to the horizontal. M19.
F. Hoyle Slopes with gradients up to about 18.
b. An inclined part of a road etc.; a slope. M19.
D. M. Thomas They were soon crawling up the steep gradienttheir train pushed by two engines.
An increase or decrease in the magnitude of a property, e.g. temperature, pressure, concentration, etc., observed in passing from one point to another; the rate of such a change. L19.
R. F. Chapman Water passes directly from the midgut to the hindgut along an osmotic gradient. T. Pynchon A gradient of..50 between the wind at their backs and the warmth in front.
b. Math. The vector formed by the operator (see DEL) acting on a scalar function at a given point in a scalar field. E20.
Math. The degree of steepness of a graph at any point. Hence, the first derivative of a function (cf. DERIVATIVE noun 3). L19.
A. Barton A line whose gradient is zero is parallel to the x-axis.
Comb.: gradient post: beside a railway line, indicating a change of gradient; gradient wind Meteorology a (hypothetical) wind having the direction of the geostrophic wind but with calculated speed allowing for centrifugal effects arising from the curved path of the wind.