brick by brick
One piece at-a-time
Brick by brick means gradually, through steady incremental effort—the way a wall rises one brick at a time.
The phrase emphasizes patient, methodical progress rather than sudden transformation: She rebuilt her life brick by brick after the divorce.
It often appears with verbs of construction or destruction: They dismantled the old system brick by brick.
- step by stepIn ordered stages
- one step at a timeProceeding in stages
- slow and steadyGradual but consistent
- stepwiseProceeding by degrees
- piecemealIn separate stages
bit by bit · build · building blocks · from the ground up · incremental · bricklaying · perseverance · construction · foundation · masonry · skill-building · diligence · hard work · lego · habit formation · accumulation · patience · step-by-step
- gradual phrasesbit by bit, little by little, step by step, one by one, piece by piece
- constructionconstruction site, building site, hammer, building, beam
brick by brickall at once
Occurring without gradual buildup
overnight · instantaneously · in a flash · wholesale · in one go
brick by brickwholesale destruction
razed to the ground · imploded · wiped out · obliterated · swept away
brick, bricks, bricked, bricking, brickwork, bricklayer, brickyard