English

Adjective

piecemeal ‎(comparative more piecemeal, superlative most piecemeal)

1. Made or done in pieces or one stage at a time.
   • 1947 - George Marshall, The Marshall Plan Speech

     Such assistance, I am convinced, must not be on a piecemeal basis, as various crises develop.

   • 1953, James Strachey, translation of Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Avon Books, pg. 224:

     But the copious and intertwined associative links warrant our accepting the former alternative: cyclamen—favourite flower—favourite food— artichokes; pulling to pieces like an artichoke, leaf by leaf (a phrase constantly ringing in our ears in relation to the piecemeal dismemberment of the Chinese Empire)—herbarium—bookworms, whose favourite food is books.

Usage notes

Nouns to which "piecemeal" is often applied: fashion, approach, basis, way, change, reform, measure.

Derived terms

• piecemeal approach

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:piecemeal.

Translations

See also

• footmeal
• gradual
• incremental

Adverb

piecemeal ‎(comparative more piecemeal, superlative most piecemeal)

1. Piece by piece; in small amounts, stages, or degrees.
   • 1914 - Saki, The Forbidden Buzzards

     It’s as bad as selling a man a horse with half a dozen latent vices and watching him discover them piecemeal in the course of the hunting season.

2. Into pieces or parts.
   • 1888 - The Whitehall Murder, Daily Telegraph (London), October 03

     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.

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:piecemeal.

Synonyms

• (Piece by piece): little by little, bit by bit

Translations

Verb

piecemeal ‎(third-person singular simple present piecemeals, present participle piecemealing, simple past and past participle piecemealed)

1. (transitive) To divide or distribute piecemeal; dismember.

Derived terms

• piecemealing

Noun

piecemeal ‎(plural piecemeals)

1. A fragment; a scrap.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of R. Vaughan to this entry?)