piecemeal

1 of 2

adverb

piece·​meal ˈpēs-ˌmēl How to pronounce piecemeal (audio)
-ˈmēl
1
: one piece at a time : gradually
2
: in pieces or fragments : apart

piecemeal

2 of 2

adjective

: done, made, or accomplished piece by piece or in a fragmentary way
piecemeal reforms in the system

Examples of piecemeal in a Sentence

Adverb remodeled their house piecemeal because of budgetary constraints one well-aimed blow ripped the piñata piecemeal Adjective They've done piecemeal repairs in the past, but the bridge now needs major reconstruction. Some people want the changes to be made all at once, but I think we should take a more piecemeal approach.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adverb
Key to drinking water supply, wildlife The county purchased the first 10,000 acres of the preserve in 1986, and more tracts of land were added piecemeal over the next dozen years. Ryan Ballogg, Miami Herald, 29 Feb. 2024 At best, Biden has found a way to achieve piecemeal what he was prohibited from achieving in one fell swoop. The Editors, National Review, 22 Feb. 2024 Johnson has hinted at the possibility of breaking apart the Senate package to vote piecemeal on the foreign aid provisions. Marianna Sotomayor, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2024 The land was owned piecemeal by various agencies and private landowners, many of whom weren’t happy with the people trespassing on their property. Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024 The ability to gut-renovate an entire campus instead of patching up problems piecemeal opens up a new set of options. Curbed, 9 Jan. 2024 But the few hostage testimonies that have been made public so far have been piecemeal, in many cases conveyed secondhand through family members. Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2023 This is what a savvy, and perhaps ruthless, tech company intent on cornering a market does, and has done ever since — press its advantage to snap up competing ideas or companies, wholesale, sometimes, but piecemeal too. Brian Merchant, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2023 Such a maneuver aims to also ensure that other divisive issues for Republicans, such as funding for Ukraine and natural disaster relief, are settled piecemeal rather than as part of one giant deal. Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2023
Adjective
Data protections for Americans are piecemeal, and compliance with the complex federal and state data privacy laws can be costly for industry. Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez, IEEE Spectrum, 7 Mar. 2024 Characters from the series’ ancillary media and spin-offs are woven into the story retroactively to create a master text from the piecemeal lore created by years of spin-offs, but not all of them work. Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 22 Feb. 2024 And legislative efforts that take a piecemeal approach or fail to examine unintended consequences in the short and longer term, compound the problem. Rita Numerof, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 To avoid social instability, the Chinese leadership is likely to embrace piecemeal or sector-specific measures to partially alleviate economic pressures. Laura He, CNN, 24 Aug. 2023 These regional, piecemeal solutions might provide international actors a template for how to deal with the Taliban in the short term. Graeme Smith, Foreign Affairs, 11 Aug. 2023 While NGOs such as the HALO Trust have worked to steadily decontaminate those territories, the research and development has been piecemeal and slow. Justin Ling, WIRED, 19 Feb. 2024 It is widely believed that the process of taking down publishing interests will likely take a while and will be piecemeal and spotty, potentially forcing the UMPG team to police the platform and to issue takedown notices. Kristin Robinson, Billboard, 2 Feb. 2024 The change, though, has been piecemeal, and delicate. Rory Smith, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'piecemeal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adverb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1593, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of piecemeal was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near piecemeal

Cite this Entry

“Piecemeal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piecemeal. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

piecemeal

1 of 2 adverb
piece·​meal ˈpē-ˌsmēl How to pronounce piecemeal (audio)
1
: one piece at a time : gradually
2
: in pieces : apart

piecemeal

2 of 2 adjective
: done, made, or accomplished piece by piece or in an incomplete way
piecemeal reforms

More from Merriam-Webster on piecemeal

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