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

The teen-agers greeted her parents one by one; a Spotify playlist featuring Travis Scott and Rauw Alejandro played while the guests took turns on the mechanical bull. —Jordan Salama, New Yorker, 30 Dec. 2025

Their characters would face danger, sure, and some lives would be lost, but the core group wouldn’t be picked off one by one, season after season. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 26 Dec. 2025

When the swimmers emerged from the surf one by one, emergency crews were already on the beach and asked for a count. —Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 23 Dec. 2025

But reporters looking for new information in the files were forced to go one by one through the files in many cases while looking for news. —Zac Anderson, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025

Rhymes for one by one

• hydrocodone
• anyone
• everyone
• megaton
• overdone
• overrun
• povidone
• trazodone
• begun
• grandson
• gudrun
• handgun