Meaning & use
piecemealing
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“piecemealing” is a form of “piecemeal”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
verbtransitive or intransitiverare
Doing a job in small separate parts over time instead of all at once.
Grammar: Can take an object (piecemealing the project) or stand alone (they kept piecemealing).
Patterns
- piecemeal something
- piecemealing the work
The team is piecemealing the repairs, fixing one room each month.
Instead of a full rewrite, she is piecemealing the report chapter by chapter.
Word forms
| base form | piecemeal |
|---|---|
| third person singular | piecemeals |
| past tense | piecemealed |
| past participle | piecemealed |
Common combinations
- piecemeal approach
- A piecemeal approach to reform rarely solves the whole problem.
- piecemeal changes
- They made piecemeal changes to the policy over several years.
- do something piecemeal
- It is better to plan the whole thing than to do it piecemeal.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gradually
- Focuses on slow progress over time, not on splitting a job into separate parts.
- bit by bit
- More informal and often used for small, steady actions rather than planned stages.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: piecemealing or piece?
piecemealing vs piece
A single part of something; 'piecemealing' is about doing work in such parts, not about the parts themselves.
Practice
The committee is ________ the reforms, passing one small rule at a time.
Choose one answer.
The present continuous 'is piecemealing' fits the ongoing action. 'Piecemeal' alone would need a verb like 'doing', and 'piecing' changes the meaning to joining parts together.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “piecemealing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.