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Showing results for step by step. Search instead for step+by+step.
Synonyms

step by step

Idioms  

  1. By degrees, as in You'll have to go through this recipe step by step. This idiom transfers putting one foot in front of the other to other kinds of progress. [c. 1700]

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.

The film lives in its details — frost creeping along the walls, carbon dioxide levels rising, improvised fixes worked out step by step — as each small success only leads to the next crisis.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

Its name is quite a trek too - King Charles III England Coast Path - but for the first time it creates a continuous trail, allowing walkers to explore England's shoreline step by step.

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

Rather than completing division in a single cycle, the cell achieves it step by step through alternating physical states of the cytoplasm.

From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2026

"I need to rebuild my confidence step by step," Medvedev admitted, referring to his poor recent record in majors.

From Barron's • Jan. 21, 2026

Brush, liquid polish, brash, paste wax, shine rag, lacquer sole dressing . . . step by step, Freddie showed me what to do.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

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.