poco a poco

American

[poh-koh ah poh-koh, paw-kaw ah paw-kaw] / ˈpoʊ koʊ ɑ ˈpoʊ koʊ, ˈpɔ kɔ ɑ ˈpɔ kɔ /

adverb

Music.

gradually; little by little.

poco a poco accelerando.

poco a poco British

adverb

(in combination) music little by little

poco a poco rall

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of poco a poco

Borrowed into English from Italian around 1850–55

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.

Still, I have learned poco a poco, little by little.

From Literature

“I took out a loan. Stop worrying. We’ll pay it back poco a poco.”

From Literature

Crescendo poco a poco—increase in power very, very gradually.

From Project Gutenberg

Crescendo poco a poco sin al fine—crescendo gradually even up to the very end.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023