1A surveying instrument used for setting out or measuring the gradient of a slope.

1. 1.1Physics An instrument for measuring the gradient of an energy field, especially the horizontal gradient of the earth's gravitational or magnetic field.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • A well-balanced SQUID gradiometer operating in the geomagnetic field can achieve a common mode rejection of up to 10.
   • One such invention was the rotating cruciform gravity gradiometer mass detector, which measures Earth's subsurface mass variations or gravitational multipole moments.
   • The gravity gradiometer that's being used this week was developed at great expense by Lockheed-Martin during the Cold War.