off and on
Idioms-
Also, on and off.
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Intermittently, from time to time. For example, I read his column off and on , or We've been working on the garden all summer, on and off . [Early 1500s]
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Also, off again, on again ; on again, off again . Uncertain, vacillating, as in Theirs is an off again, on again relationship , or The peace talks are on again, off again . Some believe this term originally referred to minor railroad accidents, where a train went off track and then on again. [Mid-1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Spiritualist friends wanted the powerful Maggie Fox to return to the séance table; and off and on, she did.
From Literature
Moira was there for me off and on as I tried to settle into a new life and stop the pattern of moving every couple years.
From Los Angeles Times
“This type of tremor came and went, off and on,” remembered Malone.
From Literature
We looked for the blanket off and on the rest of that day, although Alice said it would be better if we didn’t find it.
From Literature
I engaged in the ancient ritual of turning the phone off and on again.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
