DictionaryAI

piecemeal

PEES-meel/ˈpiːs.miːl/

Noun pluralpiecemeals

5 meanings of piecemeal

Practice

  1. 1
    in stagesadjective
    Done in small parts, one step at a time, not all at once.

    The house was fixed in a piecemeal way, one room each year.

    Their piecemeal plan never solved the whole problem.

    UsageOften a criticism: a piecemeal plan does not deal with the whole problem.

    Similarincremental, gradual, fragmented, haphazard

    Oppositecomprehensive, systematic, wholesale

    Note
  2. 2
    adverb
    A little at a time, in small parts or steps.

    We paid the debt back piecemeal, a little each month.

    She learned the truth piecemeal, from different friends.

    UsagePut it after the verb: paid back piecemeal.

    Similargradually, separately, incrementally

    Oppositewholesale

  3. 3
    nounobsoletecountable
    A small broken piece of something.
    Thus the world Is all to piecemeals cut
    a. 1695, Henry Vaughan, OdeHere, piecemeals means small pieces or scraps.
    The fairest towns that ever the sun rose upon, are now no more: the names only are left, and those (for many of them are wrong spelt) are falling themselves by piecemeals to decay.
    1762, Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy (V.iii)Here, piecemeals means little bits, so they fall apart bit by bit.

    Similarfragment, scrap

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    adverbdated
    Into many pieces or parts.
    A few years ago also there was the case of Kate Webster, who at Richmond murdered her mistress, and, fiend-like, cut the body up piecemeal, and tried to dispose of it in various ways by small portions.
    1888, “The Whitehall Murder”, in Daily Telegraph
  2. 5
    verbrare
    To break something into parts, or to give it out one part at a time.

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Origin

It comes from the Middle English word pecemele, made from piece and an old word meaning “at a time”.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts