The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word GRADIENTS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
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More clues leading to the result GRADIENTS
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The cryptic/wordplay part
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What does GRADIENTS mean?
GRADIENTS noun- A slope or incline.
- A rate of inclination or declination of a slope.
- Of a function y = f(x) or the graph of such a function, the rate of change of y with respect to x that is, the amount by which y changes for a certain (often unit) change in x equivalently, the inclination to the X axis of the tangent to the curve of the graph.
- The rate at which a physical quantity increases or decreases relative to change in a given variable, especially distance.
- A differential operator that maps each point of a scalar field to a vector pointed in the direction of the greatest rate of change of the scalar. Notation for a scalar field φ: ∇φ
- A gradual change in color. A color gradient; gradation.