From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishyear by yearyear by yearSLOWas each year passes Business has steadily increased year by year. → year
Examples from the Corpus
year by year• Year by year, things are getting worse.• Because so much has been put into making such fine volumes, they have tended to increase in value year by year.• But though I refused to age, the students and the other teachers grew younger year by year.• Instead of claiming it year by year, you just fill in a form when you apply for your mortgage.• The car-less core has been expanded year by year, as more neighborhoods have wanted it.• The issues involved in a healthy environment grow year by year.• The pay-back is more evident year by year, as increasingly the focus is on speciality films.• Their living conditions are getting worse year by year, politicians are corrupt, often are not held accountable.• Yet year by year, the day of reckoning grows closer, and nothing is being done. 