LITTLE BY LITTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does little by little mean? 

• LITTLE BY LITTLE (adverb)
  The adverb LITTLE BY LITTLE has 2 senses:

1. a little bit at a time

2. by a short distance

  Familiarity information: LITTLE BY LITTLE used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LITTLE BY LITTLE (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A little bit at a time

Synonyms:

bit by bit; in stages; little by little; piecemeal

Context example:

the research structure has developed piecemeal

Sense 2

Meaning:

By a short distance

Synonyms:

by inches; by small degrees; little by little

Context example:

they moved it by inches

 Context examples 

The knowledge came upon me, not quickly, but little by little, and grain by grain.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Utterson became so used to the unvarying character of these reports, that he fell off little by little in the frequency of his visits.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Hansel, however little by little, threw all the crumbs on the path.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

At every jump too, Hands appeared still more to sink into himself and settle down upon the deck, his feet sliding ever the farther out, and the whole body canting towards the stern, so that his face became, little by little, hid from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond his ear and the frayed ringlet of one whisker.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The deep remembrance of the sense I had, of being utterly without hope now; of the shame I felt in my position; of the misery it was to my young heart to believe that day by day what I had learned, and thought, and delighted in, and raised my fancy and my emulation up by, would pass away from me, little by little, never to be brought back any more; cannot be written.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)