Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Piecemeal

Piecemeal , adverb

[Old English pecemele; pece a piece + Anglo-Saxon m{not transcribed}lum, dat. plural of m{not transcribed}l part. See Meal a portion.]

1.
In pieces; in parts or fragments.
On which it piecemeal brake. — Chapman
The beasts will tear thee piecemeal. — Tennyson
2.
Piece by piece; by little and little in succession.
Piecemeal they win, this acre first, than that. — Pope

Piecemeal , adjective

Made up of parts or pieces; single; separate.
These piecemeal guilts. — Gov. of Tongue

Piecemeal , noun

A fragment; a scrap. — R. Vaughan