one by one

Idioms  

1. Also, one at a time. Individually in succession, as in The ducklings jumped into the pond one by one, or One at a time they went into the office. Formerly also put as one and one and one after one, this idiom dates from about a.d. 1000.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

one by one

They could have done what was expected and tried each of those flaws one by one like good little models.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Later that day, they said, guards searched each cell one by one, seizing almost all personal items.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

Rather than analyzing genes one by one, this technique identifies groups of genes whose behavior changes together, providing a broader picture of how immune cells respond to ultrasound treatment.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

Absorbed students carefully threaded wires into junction boxes to make circuits connected to lights, bulbs flickering on one by one to signal a job well done.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

But Nim got another load and then another, till she had twenty fat coconuts heaped on the rocks, and then she hurled them into the water one by one.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr