inchmeal

inch·meal

 (ĭnch′mēl′)
adv.
Little by little; gradually.
[inch + (piece)meal.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

inchmeal

(ˈɪntʃˌmiːl)
adv
gradually; inch by inch or little by little
[C16: from inch1 + -mele, from Old English mælum quantity taken at one time; compare piecemeal]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

inch•meal

(ˈɪntʃ mil)

adv.
by inches; little by little.
(inch1 + -meal]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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The inchmeal efforts of the government to stabilise the economy and arrest the fall of the rupee have done little to halt the steep decline, hopes are being pinned on the new governor who has been circumspect in public, revealing very little about whether he will stick to the hawkish stance of the previous governor or take a fresh approach like the Japanese Central Bank to wade through the trying times.
From professor to saviour of India?
As long as religion rules the roost, however, Grayling acknowledges that we can only undermine it inchmeal. But challenge it we must.
Spare a thought for philosophy: an interview with A.C. Grayling
This inchmeal progression is nothing new; the students' parents and grandparents probably saw the coast trickle away bit by bit during their childhoods, too.
Collapsing coastlines: how Arctic shores are pulled a-sea

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