day-by-day
adjective
taking place each day; daily.
Jump To:
-
day-by-day
-
day by day
day by dayOn each successive day, daily, as in Day by day he's getting better. Percy Bysshe Shelley used this expression, first recorded in 1362, in Adonais (1821): “fear and grief ... consume us day by day.”
day-by-day
American
[dey-bahy-dey]
/ ˈdeɪ baɪˈdeɪ /
adjective
day by day
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of day-by-day
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rovere, on the other hand, found the book to be “barren of ideas and imagination,” and “scarcely more interesting or enlightening than the day-by-day newspaper accounts.”
From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2026
"I've said it for a while, I'm taking it day-by-day, series-by-series, and we'll see where things land," said Smith, who has played 122 Tests and scored more than 10,000 runs.
From Barron's ● Jan. 3, 2026
Along the way, I discovered and began to practice the day-by-day rituals of Judaism, which helped me understand the larger fabric that clothes all religions: faith.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
The situation is understood to be fluid as the company attempts to get its networks back up and running, and decisions are being taken on a day-by-day basis.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025
They had been buying not only her day-by-day ability, they had bought up her future.
From Comrade Yetta by Edwards, Albert
"I live day by day and hope for the best, because it's the only way you can be when you're relying on Universal Credit."
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
"I'll stay here day by day," Lau, a 48-year-old welfare recipient who had received an eviction notice months ago, told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
The genius needed chastening, and in “Steve Jobs in Exile” you can witness it happening, sometimes day by day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 2026
“Every day I’m doing stuff I’m supposed to do. Obviously recovery, now I’m working … just going day by day, and I feel better every day.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
And biology was perfecting my disguise day by day.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
