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little by little

lit·tle by lit·tle
L l

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [lit-l bahy lit-l]
    • /ˈlɪt l baɪ ˈlɪt l/
    • /ˈlɪtl baɪ ˈlɪtl/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [lit-l bahy lit-l]
    • /ˈlɪt l baɪ ˈlɪt l/

Definitions of little by little words

  • adjective little by little small in size; not big; not large; tiny: a little desk in the corner of the room. 1
  • adjective little by little short in duration; not extensive; short; brief: a little while. 1
  • adjective little by little small in number: a little group of scientists. 1
  • adjective little by little small in amount or degree; not much: little hope. 1
  • adjective little by little of a certain amount; appreciable (usually preceded by a): We're having a little difficulty. 1
  • adjective little by little being such on a small scale: little farmers. 1
See all 29 definitions of little by little

Information block about the term

Origin of little by little

First appearance:

before 900
One of the 4% oldest English words
before 900; Middle English, Old English lȳtel (lȳt few, small + -el diminutive suffix), cognate with Dutch luttel, Old High German luzzil, Old Norse lītill

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Little by little

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Little by little

little by little popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 99% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

little by little usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for little by little

adv little by little

  • regularly — at regular times or intervals.
  • increasingly — growing larger or greater; enlarging; augmenting.
  • constantly — not changing or varying; uniform; regular; invariable: All conditions during the three experiments were constant.
  • moderately — kept or keeping within reasonable or proper limits; not extreme, excessive, or intense: a moderate price.
  • gently — kindly; amiable: a gentle manner.

adj little by little

  • gradual — taking place, changing, moving, etc., by small degrees or little by little: gradual improvement in health.
  • fitfully — coming, appearing, acting, etc., in fits or by spells; recurring irregularly.
  • fragmentary — consisting of or reduced to fragments; broken; disconnected; incomplete: fragmentary evidence; fragmentary remains.
  • intermittent — stopping or ceasing for a time; alternately ceasing and beginning again: an intermittent pain.
  • interrupted — having an irregular or discontinuous arrangement, as of leaflets along a stem.
All 57 Synonyms of little by little

Antonyms for little by little

adv little by little

  • abruptly — sudden or unexpected: an abrupt departure.
  • intermittently — stopping or ceasing for a time; alternately ceasing and beginning again: an intermittent pain.
  • suddenly — happening, coming, made, or done quickly, without warning, or unexpectedly: a sudden attack.
  • fastly — Securely.
  • completely — having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full: a complete set of Mark Twain's writings.
All 7 Antonyms of little by little

See also

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