Gradually, quiet announced before supper, say (9)
I believe the answer is:
piecemeal
'gradually' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'quiet announced before supper say' is the wordplay.
'quiet announced' becomes 'piece' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'supper say' becomes 'meal' (supper is a kind of meal).
'piece'+'meal'='PIECEMEAL'
(Other definitions for piecemeal that I've seen before include "Unsystematically" , "step by step" , "by degrees" , "Claim epee in gradual unsystematic way" , "Bit by bit; unsystematic" .)