What's the difference between abrupt and gradual?

Abrupt


Definition:

  • (a.) Broken off; very steep, or craggy, as rocks, precipices, banks; precipitous; steep; as, abrupt places.
  • (a.) Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.
  • (a.) Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected.
  • (a.) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off.
  • (n.) An abrupt place.
  • (v. t.) To tear off or asunder.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) These two types of transfer functions are appropriate to explain the transition to anaerobic metabolism (anaerobic threshold), with a hyperbolic transfer characteristic representing a graded transition; and a sigmoid transfer characteristic representing an abrupt transition.
  • (2) Abruptly changing cows from one feeding system to another did not influence milk yield, milk composition, or body weight gain.
  • (3) Interphase death thus involves a discrete, abrupt transition from the normal state and is not merely the consequence of progressive and degenerative changes.
  • (4) NPR reported that investigators have not found telltale signs associated with Islamist radicalization , such as a change in mosques or abrupt shifts in behavior or family associations.
  • (5) Echocardiographic findings included an abrupt midsystolic, posterior motion (greater than 3 mm beyond the CD line) in five patients, multiple sequence echoes in six, and posterior coaptation of the mitral valve near the left atrial wall in six.
  • (6) 1) The incidence of premature rupture of the membranes (PROM), threatened premature delivery, toxemia and abruption placentae were 40.6, 36.4, 7.8 and 3.0%, respectively.
  • (7) The present report details an unusual patient with "occult temporal arteritis" who sustained abrupt monocular visual loss and subsequent ipsilateral ophthalmoplegia involving all functions of the oculomotor nerve.
  • (8) The stiffness of the fibre first rose abruptly in response to stretch and then started to decrease linearly while the stretch went on; after the completion of stretch the stiffness decreased towards a steady value which was equal to that during the isometric tetanus at the same sarcomere length, indicating that the enhancement of isometric force is associated with decreased stiffness.
  • (9) We conclude that CJD-related neuropathological phenomena do not accumulate gradually through the incubation period but develop relatively abruptly and in complete form.
  • (10) It inherited an economy that was growing quite strongly but activity came to an abrupt halt last autumn and has flatlined ever since.
  • (11) An abrupt decrease of the liver glycogen was found as well as a negligible rise of the blood sugar.
  • (12) Abrupt withdrawal jumping behavior in morphine-dependent mice is accompanied by a decrease in brain dopamine turnover and an increase in brain dopamine level which parallel strain differences in jumping incidence.
  • (13) In the active phase all the patients exhibited an abrupt increase in the activity of alkaline and acid phosphatase in blood neutrophils, a drop in the level of CP (in 69%), a rise in the activity of MP (in 32%); pyrogenal did not induce any capacity for restoring HCT (in 44%).
  • (14) During the development of the PM, all five RNAs exhibited the same schedule of accumulation, appearing de novo, or increasing abruptly just before PM ingression, and remaining at relatively high levels thereafter.
  • (15) In each case, the surgical procedure was nearly complete when an abrupt and persistent loss of SSEPs occurred.
  • (16) Following a midcollicular transection the paroxysmal bulbar activity abruptly disappeared.
  • (17) These channels underlie the graded active responses that can be elicited at the offset of abrupt hyperpolarizing and depolarizing intracellular current pulses.
  • (18) The main response characteristics are an immediate motor 'paralysis' (prolonged and generalized immobility), unresponsiveness, and abrupt and profound bradycardia.
  • (19) LAD to LCCA collaterals serve as functionally significant bidirectional perfusion conduits, and monitoring of collateral perfusion development is practical by measuring the step reduction in LCCA flow upon abrupt release of an LAD occlusion.
  • (20) Using concurrent videoendoscopy and manometry, glottal and upper esophageal sphincter (UES) responses to abrupt esophageal distention by air injection (10-60 mL) and balloon distention (1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 cm) were recorded simultaneously.

Gradual


Definition:

  • (n.) Proceeding by steps or degrees; advancing, step by step, as in ascent or descent or from one state to another; regularly progressive; slow; as, a gradual increase of knowledge; a gradual decline.
  • (n.) An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps.
  • (n.) A service book containing the musical portions of the Mass.
  • (n.) A series of steps.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The cross sectional area of the aortic lumen was gradually decreased while the length of the stenotic lesion gradually increased by using strips with different width.
  • (2) With prolonged ischemia, it is only transient and is followed by a gradual loss of the adenylyl cyclase activity.
  • (3) The number of axons displaying peptide-like immunoreactivity within the optic nerve, retinal or cerebral to the crush, and within the optic chiasm gradually decreased after 2-3 months.
  • (4) The deep cerebellar nuclei were moderately labeled at birth and gradually decreased in density thereafter.
  • (5) There is a gradual loosening of the adolescent's emotional dependence on her parents and a transfer of dependency ties to peers.
  • (6) In a steady-state exercise test this difference developed gradually during the first 10 min of exercise.
  • (7) Gradual evolutionary change by natural selection operates so slowly within established species that it cannot account for the major features of evolution.
  • (8) It was shown that gradual recovery of spike wave patterns occurred from initial water swallowing to successive dry swalllowing.
  • (9) Size of both areas gradually decreased as the medulla filled with plasma cells, 7-30 days after injection.
  • (10) The general tendency of gradual CBF reduction from the pedicle to the distal end of all the flaps was observed.
  • (11) In contrast to findings in the rat and dog, no sharp drop but a gradual fall in CLi was observed at decreasing FENa values down to 0.02%.
  • (12) In this study patients who had successfully been treated with loreclezole in previous studies were gradually withdrawn from their antiepileptic comedication.
  • (13) Ten animals served as sedentary controls, the 10 experimental animals were subjected to a training program with gradually increasing intensity of 18 weeks duration on a motor-driven treadmill.
  • (14) A radical rearrangement of the organism occurred gradually: initially oval in shape, the parasite became round, then elongated, flattened, and underwent cytokinesis.
  • (15) + inf., pons + medulla), rCBF increased toward the control level gradually, and it completely recovered 60 min after recirculation.
  • (16) Following uninephrectomy a more gradual regression took place and normal cardiac weight was not obtained until 3 weeks.
  • (17) This process may be achieved by co-ordinated synthesis and translation of new mRNA or gradual accumulation of constitutively synthesized mRNA, followed by coordinated translational activation.
  • (18) After more than 10 weeks, CD34+, CD33- cells gradually recovered, as erythroid burst colony-forming cells increased following GM colony-forming cells.
  • (19) BC treatment was reinstituted, and the serum PRL level decreased gradually without recurrent CSF rhinorrhea.
  • (20) We conclude that CJD-related neuropathological phenomena do not accumulate gradually through the incubation period but develop relatively abruptly and in complete form.