Definition of "piecemeal" []

• By a small amount at a time; in stages: articles acquired piecemeal. (adverb)
• In pieces; apart. (adverb)
• Accomplished or made in stages. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "GH: In your new book Makeshift Metropolis, you state that architects should resist the urge to plan grand utopias and should instead embrace smaller interventions that fit more naturally into what you call piecemeal urbanism."
• ""St Ewold's isn't the best house in the world," said the major, "because it is old, and what I call piecemeal; but it is very pretty, and certainly nice.""
• "Other signature promises may be addressed in piecemeal fashion in the opening weeks of the Obama administration but then put on a long track toward more comprehensive resolutions."