little by little

adverb

Synonyms of little by littlenext
: by small degrees or amounts : gradually

Synonyms of little by little

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of little by little in a Sentence

little by little, we pieced together the jigsaw puzzle
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
At first determined to capture him, little by little Araí starts to understand, and eventually, to identify with the villain. — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 12 Aug. 2026 The mother shares portions of the stew with family and friends as a kind of birth announcement, and then consumes the rest little by little over several months. — Ann Scott Tyson, Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2026 And little by little, Venezuela slipped off the front pages — even though, for millions of people, the work of rebuilding is just getting started. — Cristina Guevara, The Orlando Sentinel, 17 July 2026 And each time another first-time climber reaches the top, the applause rising from the rocks below suggests that, little by little, that community is growing. — Illia Novikov, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for little by little

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of little by little was in the 15th century

Rhymes for little by little

See All Rhymes for little by little

Browse Nearby Words

little bustard
little by little
little casino
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Little by little.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/little%20by%20little. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

little by little

adverb
: by small steps or amounts : gradually
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of balmy

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All