by little and little

prepositional phrase

A small amount at a time; little by little.

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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. datedA small amount at a time; little by little.

    The girl raged and battled with all the force of her youth and fulness of life, until by little and little her passionate exclamations trailed off into broken murmurs as if she were in pain.

    1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, chapter 2, in Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC
Cite this entry
APA

by little and little. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20little%20and%20little

MLA

“by little and little.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20little%20and%20little. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “by little and little,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20little%20and%20little.

Source: by little and little on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.