<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>the principle or policy of achieving some goal by gradual steps rather than by drastic change.</li><li>Philosophy: a theory maintaining that two seemingly conflicting notions are not radically opposed, but are related by others partaking in varying degrees of the character of both.</li><li>Biology: a tenet in evolutionary theory maintaining that species evolve slowly and continuously over long periods of geological time.</li></ul>