Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Graduate \Grad"u*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Graduated}p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Graduating}.] [Cf. F. graduer. See {Graduate}, n.,
   {Grade}.]
   1. To mark with degrees; to divide into regular steps,
      grades, or intervals, as the scale of a thermometer, a
      scheme of punishment or rewards, etc.

   2. To admit or elevate to a certain grade or degree; esp., in
      a college or university, to admit, at the close of the
      course, to an honorable standing defined by a diploma; as,
      he was graduated at Yale College.

   3. To prepare gradually; to arrange, temper, or modify by
      degrees or to a certain degree; to determine the degrees
      of; as, to graduate the heat of an oven.

            Dyers advance and graduate their colors with salts.
                                                  --Browne.

   4. (Chem.) To bring to a certain degree of consistency, by
      evaporation, as a fluid.

   {Graduating engine}, a dividing engine. See {Dividing}
      engine, under {Dividing}.

Graduated \Grad"u*a"ted\, a.
   1. Marked with, or divided into, degrees; divided into
      grades.

   2. (Zo["o]l.) Tapered; -- said of a bird's tail when the
      outer feathers are shortest, and the others successively
      longer.

   {Graduated} {tube, bottle, cap, or glass}, a vessel, usually
      of glass, having horizontal marks upon its sides, with
      figures, to indicate the amount of the contents at the
      several levels. -- {Graduated spring} (Railroads), a
      combination of metallic and rubber springs.

Graduated \Grad"u*a"ted\, a.
   1. Marked with, or divided into, degrees; divided into
      grades.

   2. (Zo["o]l.) Tapered; -- said of a bird's tail when the
      outer feathers are shortest, and the others successively
      longer.

   {Graduated} {tube, bottle, cap, or glass}, a vessel, usually
      of glass, having horizontal marks upon its sides, with
      figures, to indicate the amount of the contents at the
      several levels. -- {Graduated spring} (Railroads), a
      combination of metallic and rubber springs.

Source : WordNet®

graduated
     adj 1: increasing as the amount taxed increases [syn: {proportional}]
     2: marked with or divided into degrees; "a calibrated
        thermometer" [syn: {calibrated}]
     3: decreasing as the amount taxed increases
     4: slowly and smoothly [syn: {gradational}, {gradatory}]