STEP BY STEP

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does step by step mean? 

• STEP BY STEP (adverb)
  The adverb STEP BY STEP has 2 senses:

1. in a gradual manner

2. proceeding in steps

  Familiarity information: STEP BY STEP used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STEP BY STEP (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In a gradual manner

Synonyms:

bit by bit; gradually; step by step

Context example:

the snake moved gradually toward its victim

Sense 2

Meaning:

Proceeding in steps

Synonyms:

step by step; stepwise

Context example:

the voltage was increased stepwise

 Context examples 

And still, step by step with long intervals between, the mass ascended.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Kreis began directly on Martin, but step by step Norton interfered, until he and Kreis were off and away in a personal battle.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Step by step she was luring him away from the security of his human companionship.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“Before him I have step by step abandoned name and reputation, peace and quiet, house and home.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Cool stars, on the other hand, do not produce enough light for these building blocks to be formed, except if they have frequent powerful solar flares to jolt the chemistry forward step by step.

(Scientists identify exoplanets where life could develop as it did on Earth, University of Cambridge)

For my own part, I had followed step by step the methods by which he had traced the various windings of this complex case, and, though I could not yet perceive the goal which we would reach, I understood clearly that Holmes expected this grotesque criminal to make an attempt upon the two remaining busts, one of which, I remembered, was at Chiswick.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And then, step by step, hand and foot, he slowly struggled up the ladder.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He had led his mother there, step by step, and now when she stopped, he tried to inveigle her farther.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Step by step, by the might of his arms, the whole pack of men striving to drag him back and down, he drew his body up from the floor till he stood erect.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)