one by one
idiom
: separately in a series : one at a time : first one and then another one, etc.
I solved the problems one by one.
The performers took the stage one by one.
Examples of one by one in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In Identity, a group of strangers become trapped in a desert motel during a storm and someone (or something) starts picking them off one by one.
—
Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 15 Dec. 2025
Final Destination, of course, isn’t like other franchises with each more-or-less stand-alone movie featuring a new cast of characters being picked off one by one by Death.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 10 Dec. 2025
Eventually, the animals were clustered into a sluice-like enclosure, and then the animals would be extracted one by one.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 9 Dec. 2025
The soupe de poisson and rouille were duly prepared, and one by one, the fish and the eel were added, and finally, the shellfish.
—Georgeanne Brennan, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for one by one
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Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 15 Dec. 2025
Final Destination, of course, isn’t like other franchises with each more-or-less stand-alone movie featuring a new cast of characters being picked off one by one by Death.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 10 Dec. 2025
Eventually, the animals were clustered into a sluice-like enclosure, and then the animals would be extracted one by one.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 9 Dec. 2025
The soupe de poisson and rouille were duly prepared, and one by one, the fish and the eel were added, and finally, the shellfish.
—Georgeanne Brennan, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for one by one
Cite this Entry
“One by one.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/one%20by%20one. Accessed 20 Dec. 2025.
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