Man, male regenerating gradually (9)
I believe the answer is:
piecemeal
'gradually' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'man male regenerating' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'piece' (synonyms).
'regenerating' indicates an anagram.
'male' anagrammed gives 'meal'.
'piece'+'meal'='PIECEMEAL'
(Other definitions for piecemeal that I've seen before include "a little at a time" , "Claim epee in gradual unsystematic way" , "step by step" , "Unsystematically" , "A bit at a time" .)