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Glite Dictionary
eat an elephant one bite at a time

eat an elephant one bite at a time

1 7.5
To finish a very large task by doing small easy steps
  • idiom
  • Informal
: comer un elefante a bocados
  • To finish her book on time, she decided to eat an elephant one bite at a time by setting daily writing goals.

Examples

  • Learning a new language is easier if you eat an elephant one bite at a time.

  • Whenever faced with a huge project, remember to eat an elephant one bite at a time.

  • She completed her thesis by eating an elephant one bite at a time.

  • Just eat an elephant one bite at a time!

  • You can eat an elephant one bite at a time when tackling big projects.

  • When overwhelmed by a big project, it's best to eat an elephant one bite at a time so you don't get discouraged.

  • The coach advised the players to eat an elephant one bite at a time while preparing for the upcoming season.

Synonyms

one at a time
vseat an elephant one bite at a time
381 1.9

Handle each person or thing in turn, not all at once

applies to breaking very large tasks into orderly small parts
one by one
vseat an elephant one bite at a time
186 1.4

Things happen one after another, not at the same time

highlights dividing large difficult tasks into separate manageable parts
step by step
vseat an elephant one bite at a time
65 1.8

In a gradual way, doing each part one after another

focuses on large tasks split into small manageable parts
one step at a time
vseat an elephant one bite at a time
37 2.8

To do a task slowly, handling each part before the next

is used for very large difficult tasks divided into smaller parts
bit by bit
vseat an elephant one bite at a time
  • Informal
20 2.7

A little at a time

applies to very large difficult tasks split into clear parts
bit-by-bit
vseat an elephant one bite at a time
1 3.5

Happens slowly, a little at a time

is the same idea but often written without hyphens in common use
in small stages
vseat an elephant one bite at a time
3.9

You do a little at a time instead of trying everything at once

emphasizes very large tasks divided into manageable parts

Antonyms

to overwhelm
63 3.9

Give someone too much work or problems so they cannot cope

How Manageable

to plan
∞ 1.0
eat an elephant one bite at a time
  • Informal
1 7.5
to work
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

eat an elephant one bite at a time main

Morphology

eat + an + elephant + one + bite + at + a + time

The expression builds an extended, easily-mapped metaphor: 'eat' + 'elephant' suggests tackling something enormous and 'one bite at a time' indicates doing it in small steps, so a learner who knows the words can typically infer the advice. However, the meaning depends on a figurative/proverbial mapping rather than a strictly compositional rule, so it is not fully literal.

Etymology

Eat an elephant one bite at a time paints a clear picture: you cannot eat a whole elephant, so you take it in one bite at a time. So, it means 'to tackle a very big task by doing many small, simple steps'.