one by one
         adv 1: in single file; "the prisoners came out one by one" [syn:
                  {one by one}, {one after another}, {one at a time}]
         2: one piece at a time; "she sold the plates by the piece" [syn:
            {by the piece}, {one by one}]
         3: apart from others; "taken individually, the rooms were, in
            fact, square"; "the fine points are treated singly" [syn:
            {individually}, {separately}, {singly}, {severally}, {one by
            one}, {on an individual basis}]

English Dictionary: one by one	by the DICT Development Group
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
one-upmanship n the practice of keeping one jump ahead of a friend or competitor
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Pinch \Pinch\, n.       1. A close compression, as with the ends of the fingers, or             with an instrument; a nip.          2. As much as may be taken between the finger and thumb; any             very small quantity; as, a pinch of snuff.          3. Pian; pang. [bd]Necessary's sharp pinch.[b8] --Shak.          4. A lever having a projection at one end, acting as a             fulcrum, -- used chiefly to roll heavy wheels, etc. Called             also {pinch bar}.          {At a pinch}, {On a pinch}, in an emergency; as, he could on             a pinch read a little Latin.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Even \E"ven\, a. [AS. efen. efn; akin to OS. eban, D. even, OHG.       eban, G. efen, Icel. jafn, Dan. jevn, Sw. j[84]mn, Goth.       ibns. Cf. {Anent}, {Ebb}.]       1. Level, smooth, or equal in surface; not rough; free from             irregularities; hence uniform in rate of motion of action;             as, even ground; an even speed; an even course of conduct.          2. Equable; not easily ruffed or disturbed; calm; uniformly             self-possessed; as, an even temper.          3. Parallel; on a level; reaching the same limit.                         And shall lay thee even with the ground. --Luke xix.                                                                               44.          4. Balanced; adjusted; fair; equitable; impartial; just to             both side; owing nothing on either side; -- said of             accounts, bargains, or persons indebted; as, our accounts             are even; an even bargain.                         To make the even truth in pleasure flow. --Shak.          5. Without an irregularity, flaw, or blemish; pure. [bd]I             know my life so even.[b8] --Shak.          6. Associate; fellow; of the same condition. [Obs.] [bd]His             even servant.[b8] --Wyclif (Matt. xviii. 29).          7. Not odd; capable of division by two without a remainder;             -- said of numbers; as, 4 and 10 are even numbers.                         Whether the number of the stars is even or odd.                                                                               --Jer. Taylor.          {On even ground}, with equal advantage.          {On even keel} (Naut.), in a level or horizontal position.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Keel \Keel\, n. [Cf. AS. ce[a2]l ship; akin to D. & G. kiel       keel, OHG. chiol ship, Icel. kj[omac]ll, and perh. to Gr.       gay^los a round-built Ph[oe]nician merchant vessel, gaylo`s       bucket; cf. Skr. g[omac]la ball, round water vessel. But the       meaning of the English word seems to come from Icel. kj[94]lr       keel, akin to Sw. k[94]l, Dan. kj[94]l.]       1. (Shipbuilding) A longitudinal timber, or series of timbers             scarfed together, extending from stem to stern along the             bottom of a vessel. It is the principal timber of the             vessel, and, by means of the ribs attached on each side,             supports the vessel's frame. In an iron vessel, a             combination of plates supplies the place of the keel of a             wooden ship. See Illust. of {Keelson}.          2. Fig.: The whole ship.          3. A barge or lighter, used on the Type for carrying coal             from Newcastle; also, a barge load of coal, twenty-one             tons, four cwt. [Eng.]          4. (Bot.) The two lowest petals of the corolla of a             papilionaceous flower, united and inclosing the stamens             and pistil; a carina. See {Carina}.          5. (Nat. Hist.) A projecting ridge along the middle of a flat             or curved surface.          {Bilge keel} (Naut.), a keel peculiar to ironclad vessels,             extending only a portion of the length of the vessel under             the bilges. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.          {False keel}. See under {False}.          {Keel boat}.             (a) A covered freight boat, with a keel, but no sails,                   used on Western rivers. [U. S.]             (b) A low, flat-bottomed freight boat. See {Keel}, n., 3.                            {Keel piece}, one of the timbers or sections of which a keel             is composed.          {On even keel}, in a level or horizontal position, so that             the draught of water at the stern and the bow is the same.             --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Even \E"ven\, a. [AS. efen. efn; akin to OS. eban, D. even, OHG.       eban, G. efen, Icel. jafn, Dan. jevn, Sw. j[84]mn, Goth.       ibns. Cf. {Anent}, {Ebb}.]       1. Level, smooth, or equal in surface; not rough; free from             irregularities; hence uniform in rate of motion of action;             as, even ground; an even speed; an even course of conduct.          2. Equable; not easily ruffed or disturbed; calm; uniformly             self-possessed; as, an even temper.          3. Parallel; on a level; reaching the same limit.                         And shall lay thee even with the ground. --Luke xix.                                                                               44.          4. Balanced; adjusted; fair; equitable; impartial; just to             both side; owing nothing on either side; -- said of             accounts, bargains, or persons indebted; as, our accounts             are even; an even bargain.                         To make the even truth in pleasure flow. --Shak.          5. Without an irregularity, flaw, or blemish; pure. [bd]I             know my life so even.[b8] --Shak.          6. Associate; fellow; of the same condition. [Obs.] [bd]His             even servant.[b8] --Wyclif (Matt. xviii. 29).          7. Not odd; capable of division by two without a remainder;             -- said of numbers; as, 4 and 10 are even numbers.                         Whether the number of the stars is even or odd.                                                                               --Jer. Taylor.          {On even ground}, with equal advantage.          {On even keel} (Naut.), in a level or horizontal position.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
One \One\, n.       1. A single unit; as, one is the base of all numbers.          2. A symbol representing a unit, as 1, or i.          3. A single person or thing. [bd]The shining ones.[b8]             --Bunyan. [bd]Hence, with your little ones.[b8] --Shak.                         He will hate the one, and love the other. --Matt.                                                                               vi. 24.                         That we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the                      other on thy left hand, in thy glory. --Mark x. 37.          {After one}, after one fashion; alike. [Obs.] --Chaucer.          {At one}, in agreement or concord. See {At one}, in the             Vocab.          {Ever in one}, continually; perpetually; always. [Obs.]             --Chaucer.          {In one}, in union; in a single whole.          {One and one}, {One by one}, singly; one at a time; one after             another. [bd]Raising one by one the suppliant crew.[b8]             --Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
By \By\ (b[imac]), prep. [OE. bi, AS. b[c6], big, near to, by,       of, from, after, according to; akin to OS. & OFries. bi, be,       D. bij, OHG. b[c6], G. bei, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr. 'amfi`.       E. prefix be- is orig. the same word. [root]203. See pref.       {Be-}.]       1. In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from;             close to; along with; as, come and sit by me. [1913             Webster]                         By foundation or by shady rivulet He sought them                      both.                                                --Milton.          2. On; along; in traversing. Compare 5.                         Long labors both by sea and land he bore. --Dryden.                         By land, by water, they renew the charge. --Pope.          3. Near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side             of; past; as, to go by a church.          4. Used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty             feet by forty.          5. Against. [Obs.] --Tyndale [1. Cor. iv. 4].          6. With, as means, way, process, etc.; through means of; with             aid of; through; through the act or agency of; as, a city             is destroyed by fire; profit is made by commerce; to take             by force.          Note: To the meaning of by, as denoting means or agency,                belong, more or less closely, most of the following                uses of the word:             (a) It points out the author and producer; as,                   [bd]Waverley[b8], a novel by Sir W.Scott; a statue by                   Canova; a sonata by Beethoven.             (b) In an oath or adjuration, it indicates the being or                   thing appealed to as sanction; as, I affirm to you by                   all that is sacred; he swears by his faith as a                   Christian; no, by Heaven.             (c) According to; by direction, authority, or example of;                   after; -- in such phrases as, it appears by his                   account; ten o'clock by my watch; to live by rule; a                   model to build by.             (d) At the rate of; according to the ratio or proportion                   of; in the measure or quantity of; as, to sell cloth                   by the yard, milk by the quart, eggs by the dozen,                   meat by the pound; to board by the year.             (e) In comparison, it denotes the measure of excess or                   deficiency; when anything is increased or diminished,                   it indicates the measure of increase or diminution;                   as, larger by a half; older by five years; to lessen                   by a third.             (f) It expresses continuance or duration; during the                   course of; within the period of; as, by day, by night.             (g) As soon as; not later than; near or at; -- used in                   expressions of time; as, by this time the sun had                   risen; he will be here by two o'clock.          Note: In boxing the compass, by indicates a pint nearer to,                or towards, the next cardinal point; as, north by east,                i.e., a point towards the east from the north;                northeast by east, i.e., on point nearer the east than                northeast is.          Note: With is used instead of by before the instrument with                which anything is done; as, to beat one with a stick;                the board was fastened by the carpenter with nails. But                there are many words which may be regarded as means or                processes, or, figuratively, as instruments; and                whether with or by shall be used with them is a matter                of arbitrary, and often, of unsettled usage; as, to a                reduce a town by famine; to consume stubble with fire;                he gained his purpose by flattery; he entertained them                with a story; he distressed us with or by a recital of                his sufferings. see {With}.          {By all means}, most assuredly; without fail; certainly.          {By and by}.             (a) Close together (of place). [Obs.] [bd]Two yonge                   knightes liggyng [lying] by and by.[b8] --Chaucer.             (b) Immediately; at once. [Obs.] [bd]When . . .                   persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he                   is offended.[b8] --Matt. xiii. 21.             (c) Presently; pretty soon; before long.          Note: In this phrase, by seems to be used in the sense of                nearness in time, and to be repeated for the sake of                emphasis, and thus to be equivalent to [bd]soon, and                soon,[b8] that is instantly; hence, -- less                emphatically, -- pretty soon, presently.          {By one's self}, with only one's self near; alone; solitary.          {By the bye}. See under {Bye}.          {By the head} (Naut.), having the bows lower than the stern;             -- said of a vessel when her head is lower in the water             than her stern. If her stern is lower, she is by the             stern.          {By the lee}, the situation of a vessel, going free, when she             has fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her             stern, and to take her sails aback on the other side.          {By the run}, to let go by the run, to let go altogether,             instead of slacking off.          {By the way}, by the bye; -- used to introduce an incidental             or secondary remark or subject.          {Day by day}, {One by one}, {Piece by piece}, etc., each day,             each one, each piece, etc., by itself singly or             separately; each severally.          {To come by}, to get possession of; to obtain.          {To do by}, to treat, to behave toward.          {To set by}, to value, to esteem.          {To stand by}, to aid, to support.          Note: The common phrase good-by is equivalent to farewell,                and would be better written good-bye, as it is a                corruption of God be with you (b'w'ye).
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Sour \Sour\, a. [Compar. {Sourer}; superl. {Sourest}.] [OE.       sour, sur, AS. s[?]r; akin to D. zuur, G. sauer, OHG. s[?]r,       Icel. s[?]rr, Sw. sur, Dan. suur, Lith. suras salt, Russ.       surovui harsh, rough. Cf. {Sorrel}, the plant.]       1. Having an acid or sharp, biting taste, like vinegar, and             the juices of most unripe fruits; acid; tart.                         All sour things, as vinegar, provoke appetite.                                                                               --Bacon.          2. Changed, as by keeping, so as to be acid, rancid, or             musty, turned.          3. Disagreeable; unpleasant; hence; cross; crabbed; peevish;             morose; as, a man of a sour temper; a sour reply. [bd]A             sour countenance.[b8] --Swift.                         He was a scholar . . . Lofty and sour to them that                      loved him not, But to those men that sought him                      sweet as summer.                                 --Shak.          4. Afflictive; painful. [bd]Sour adversity.[b8] --Shak.          5. Cold and unproductive; as, sour land; a sour marsh.          {Sour dock} (Bot.), sorrel.          {Sour gourd} (Bot.), the gourdlike fruit {Adansonia             Gregorii}, and {A. digitata}; also, either of the trees             bearing this fruit. See {Adansonia}.          {Sour grapes}. See under {Grape}.          {Sour gum} (Bot.) See {Turelo}.          {Sour plum} (Bot.), the edible acid fruit of an Australian             tree ({Owenia venosa}); also, the tree itself, which             furnished a hard reddish wood used by wheelwrights.          Syn: Acid; sharp; tart; acetous; acetose; harsh; acrimonious;                crabbed; currish; peevish.
From Jargon File (4.2.0, 31 JAN 2000) [jargon]:
one-banana problem n.   At mainframe shops, where the computers    have operators for routine administrivia, the programmers and    hardware people tend to look down on the operators and claim that a    trained monkey could do their job.   It is frequently observed that    the incentives that would be offered said monkeys can be used as a    scale to describe the difficulty of a task.   A one-banana problem is    simple; hence, "It's only a one-banana job at the most; what's    taking them so long?"          At IBM, folklore divides the world into one-, two-, and    three-banana problems.   Other cultures have different hierarchies    and may divide them more finely; at ICL, for example, five grapes (a    bunch) equals a banana.   Their upper limit for the in-house    {sysape}s is said to be two bananas and three grapes (another source    claims it's three bananas and one grape, but observes "However, this    is subject to local variations, cosmic rays and ISO").   At a    complication level any higher than that, one asks the manufacturers    to send someone around to check things.          See also {Infinite-Monkey Theorem}.
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]:
one-banana problem          At mainframe shops, where the computers have operators for       routine administrivia, the programmers and hardware people       tend to look down on the operators and claim that a trained       monkey could do their job.   It is frequently observed that the       incentives that would be offered said monkeys can be used as a       scale to describe the difficulty of a task.   A one-banana       problem is simple; hence, "It's only a one-banana job at the       most; what's taking them so long?"          At IBM, folklore divides the world into one-, two-, and       three-banana problems.   Other cultures have different       hierarchies and may divide them more finely; at ICL, for       example, five grapes (a bunch) equals a banana.   Their upper       limit for the in-house {sysape}s is said to be two bananas and       three grapes (another source claims it's three bananas and one       grape, but observes "However, this is subject to local       variations, cosmic rays and ISO").   At a complication level       any higher than that, one asks the manufacturers to send       someone around to check things.          See also {Infinite-Monkey Theorem}.          [{Jargon File}]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]:
one-way function          A {function} which is easy to       compute but whose {inverse} is very difficult to compute.       Such functions have important applications in {cryptography},       specifically in {public-key cryptography}.          See also: {trapdoor function}.          (2001-05-10)