eat an elephant one bite at a time
Gradual task completion
To eat an elephant one bite at a time is to tackle an overwhelming task by breaking it into small, manageable steps.
The image is deliberately absurd—no one actually eats elephants—but the point is clear: I'm just going to eat this elephant one bite at a time.
The phrase counsels patience and steady progress over paralysis in the face of enormity.
- baby stepsCautious incremental progress
- taskWork to be done
- piece by pieceIn separate small stages
- piecemealIn separate stages
- step-by-stepIn sequential stages
brick by brick · incrementalism · slow and steady · perseverance · project · big picture · sequential · milestones · methodical · figurative speech · chunking · break it down · analogy · gradual · small wins · patience · breakdown · grit
eat an elephant one bite at a timerush
Quick sudden movement
hurry · impatience · haste makes waste · cut corners · instant gratification
eat an elephant one bite at a timeanalysis paralysis
Inaction from excessive deliberation
eat, eats, ate, eaten, eating, eater, eaters, edible, edibility