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Dictionary.com
Definitions

piece by piece

ADJECTIVE
each
Synonyms
WEAK
all any exclusive individual one by one particular personal respective separate several single specific various without exception
Antonyms
WEAK
none
ADVERB
by degrees
Synonyms
WEAK
a little at a time bit by bit continuously drop by drop gradually in small doses inch by inch little by little steadily
ADVERB
gradually
Synonyms
STRONGEST
constantly continuously deliberately gently increasingly moderately progressively regularly steadily
WEAK
bit by bit by degrees by installments imperceptibly in small doses inch by inch little by little perceptibly piecemeal sequentially serially step by step successively unhurriedly
Antonyms
WEAK
abruptly fastly intermittently suddenly
ADVERB
partially
Synonyms
STRONGEST
moderately partly somewhat
WEAK
by degrees by installments fractionally halfway in part in some measure little by little not wholly piecemeal to a certain degree to a certain extent
Antonyms
WEAK
completely totally wholly
ADVERB
partly
Synonyms
STRONGEST
at least partially slightly somewhat
WEAK
at best at most at worst bit by bit by degrees carelessly halfway in a general way in bits and pieces in part in some measure in some ways inadequately incompletely insufficiently little by little measurably not entirely not fully not strictly speaking not wholly notably noticeably piecemeal relatively so far as possible to a certain degree to a certain extent up to a certain point within limits
Antonyms
WEAK
completely totally wholly

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.

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

"It will allow us to target the assets and operations of people-smugglers wherever they operate, cutting off their funding and dismantling their networks piece by piece," she said.

From BBC • Jul. 22, 2025

All that remains are a thousand pages wafting in the wind like confetti, settling piece by piece into the sea.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman