Grad·a·to·ry a.
1. Proceeding step by step, or by gradations; gradual.
Could we have seen [Macbeth's] crimes darkening on their progress . . . could this gradatory apostasy have been shown us. --A. Seward.
2. Zool. Suitable for walking; -- said of the limbs of an animal when adapted for walking on land.
Grad·a·to·ry, n. Arch. A series of steps from a cloister into a church.
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gradatory
adj : slowly and smoothly [syn: gradational, graduated]