pezzo per pezzo

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “piece by piece”.

Phrase

pezzo per pezzo

1. piece by piece, bit by bit
   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 27, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     Dai Navy SEAL agli analisti della CIA che avevano messo insieme pezzo per pezzo la pista che conduceva ad Abbottabad... tutti avevano lavorato insieme... per raggiungere un obbiettivo condiviso.

     From the SEALs themselves, to the CIA analysts who'd pieced together the trail to Abbottabad... they had all worked together... to achieve a shared goal.

     (literally, “From the Navy SEALs to the CIA analysts who had put together piece by piece the trail that led to Abbottabad... everyone had worked together... to reach a shared goal.”)