gradate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
-
to change or cause to change imperceptibly, as from one colour, tone, or degree to another
-
(tr) to arrange in grades or ranks
Other Word Forms
- regradate verb
- ungradated adjective
- ungradating adjective
Etymology
Origin of gradate
First recorded in 1745–55; back formation from gradation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"The windows will gradate, one side will start all white and become gray," Irwin said.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2014
Still others use it to describe the ombré plaids popular in Western shirts in which two colors gradate from one to the other.
From New York Times • Dec. 16, 2010
Let the reader take the two extreme tints, and carefully gradate the one into the other.
From The Stones of Venice, Volume III (of 3) by Ruskin, John
Nay, I think it may even be a question whether we ought not to resolve that the line should never gradate itself at all, but terminate quite bluntly!
From On the Old Road Vol. 1 (of 2) A Collection of Miscellaneous Essays and Articles on Art and Literature by Ruskin, John
Probably non-living substances gradate into living ones by imperceptible differenti�, as man would be found to gradate back into an anthropoid ape or something of the kind if we could see all the stages.
From Psychical Miscellanea Being Papers on Psychical Research, Telepathy, Hypnotism, Christian Science, etc. by Hill, J. Arthur
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
