Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

piece by piece

Idioms  

  1. In stages, gradually, as in He took the clock apart piece by piece, or Let's go over your exam paper, piece by piece. Also see bit by bit.

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.

"A lot of these songs were rebellions. I used them to rebuild myself, piece by piece, brick by brick."

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

Then, in the Zaporizhzhia region, workshops where enemy devices were dismantled, their entrails methodically examined, their secrets extracted piece by piece.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

In practical terms, this approach lets chemists adjust complex molecules near the end of the drug development process rather than dismantling them and rebuilding them piece by piece -- something that can otherwise take months.

From Science Daily • Mar. 14, 2026

The city’s team then finished their standard encampment protocol by dismantling the human-powered vehicle piece by piece.

From Slate • Oct. 8, 2025

He peeled it and cut it up and gave it to her piece by piece.

From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis

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.