gradient

. [Lat. gradiens, pr. par. of gradior to walk; gradus =a step.] A. As adjective: I. Ordinary Language: 1. Walking, moving, or advancing by steps. "Amongst those gradient automata, that iron spider is especially remarkable, which, being but of an ordinary bigne , did creep up and down as if it had been alive." Wilkins: Dædal us , bk. ii., ch. iv. *2. Rising or falling by regular degrees of inclination; as, the gradient line of a road. II. Her .: A term applied to the tortoise, as supposed to be walking. B. As substantive: 1. The rate of ascent or descent in a railway or road; a grade; the degree of slope or inclination of the ground over which a railway, road, ., pa es; as, The gradient is 1 in 100; that is, the ground rises one foot in every hundred feet. 2. A part of a road, ., which slopes upward or downward; a slope. IMG:content-0674.png:[blocks in formation] 2. A stake set in the ground, and marked to indicate the proper height of an embankment or of road metal at that point.